'The Switch' (PG-13) (out of four)

Call it unexpected, but "The Switch" isn't your ordinary biological clock ticking movie. While it seems that there has been an influx of movies with the same premise -- woman decides she'll have a baby whether there's a man in her life or not ("Baby Mama," "The Back Up Plan") – this latest flick puts a whole different spin on the idea.

If you've ever awakened in a strange bed after a night of too much partying, imagine what would happen if you were too drunk to remember getting excited from seeing a magazine cover featuring Diane Sawyer.

Loosely based on a short story that appeared in The New Yorker in 1996 called "Baster," by Jeffrey Eugenides, "The Switch's" unexpected turn in the sperm donating department makes for some surprising revelations and rich comic moments.

Aniston plays Kassie, a 40-year-old, successful New York television producer, whose biological clock is ticking so loudly it keeps her awake at night. She's best friends with "beady-eyed little man boy" (a street person aptly names him that) Wally Mars (Jason Bateman), a New York stock trader. He's a neurotic, hypochondriac who sends friends cell-phone photos of his scrotum to quell his fears of a tumor.

Wally's low self-esteem gets a blow when Kassie announces she is looking for a sperm donor, and the "seed guy" isn't going to be him. Before long, she finds the perfect donor, gets pregnant, and decides to move back to Minnesota.

Fast-forward seven years, and Wally is still the same, except he's learned to dress better, yet is still single after chasing blind dates away with his pessimism. Kassie comes back to New York with her son, the slightly-neurotic Sebastian (Thomas Robinson), who is now 6. This is a kid who requests his birthday party be held at a Kill Shelter and spouts Greenpeace bumper stickers: "Nature's in crisis, and there's only one mammal to blame."

Whereas the movie could have taken a turn and focused on Kassie's re-entry into Wally's world, "The Switch" does a bait and switch and throws the spotlight on Wally and Sebastian's relationship.

Bateman's scenes with the doe-eyed Robinson are absolutely priceless, as they pedal through life both sharing a doomsday view of the world. Aniston's easy demeanor plays well here, giving over the spotlight readily. We haven't seen her this relaxed since "The Good Girl," and it works.

Although it's a feature release, "The Switch" has an independent feel, especially with the presence of Juliette Lewis entering the scene as Kassie's "insemination party throwing" friend and Jeff Goldblum as Wally's stock trading partner and advice guru. It's great casting in the supporting role department.

Directors Josh Gordon and Will Speck ("Blades of Glory") give their characters and the story breathing room, and the writing of Allan Loeb (the upcoming "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps") is sharp, keeping this a cut above what one might expect from what could easily be pigeon-holed as yet another Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy.

"The Switch" takes risks and ends up winning, even in its left field choice of making Diane Sawyer every beady-eyed-man-boy's object of sexual desire.