The story opens with a man staggering through the desert with a large laceration on his leg. He comes to the home of a Native American family who take him in. They have him drink a clear liquid and stare into the eyes of one of the men. Suddenly, both men realize their minds have been swapped. One of them tends to the injured man's leg and the man feels nothing due to the mind transference. He leaves with some of the potion they gave him once their minds have been switched back. Chris Hammond is a high school student who runs relay for his track team and has aspirations to date a beautiful student, Laurie. Laurie's hulking boyfriend, Rick, is a belligerent and bullying guy who also runs relay for the track team but constantly comes down on Chris, especially when their coach gives Chris the anchor spot at their next meet. Laurie barely pays any attention to Chris to being with, but suddenly accepts a date proposal when Chris tells her he has tickets to a rock concert that weekend. Chris' father is Jack Hammond, a brilliant and successful surgeon who is vying for a chief of staff position at his hospital. He is the leading candidate for the search but also has to fend off the advances of his boss' wife, Ginnie, who flirts constantly with Jack. Jack also remains stern when one of his colleagues, Dr Amy Larkin, pleads with him to accept an ER patient with chest pains who doesn't have any medical insurance. At a staff meeting, Dr Larkin brings up the issue of uninsured patients, but finds she can't count on Jack or any of the other staff to support her. Jack expects that Chris will follow him into surgery but Chris isn't very interested. When Chris gives an oral presentation to his biology class, it's a near-disaster with Chris trying to speak in medicalese and failing. He receives a C grade which he knows will disappoint his dad. Chris' friend, Lawrence, AKA "Trigger", tells Chris about his visiting uncle, Earl -- the same man from the opening scene who had his mind switched. Trigger tells Chris he overheard Earl telling his parents about the potion. Chris thinks Trigger is making the story up, however Trigger shows up at Chris' house with a small amount of the potion in a Tabasco bottle. They test it out on Chris' dog and cat and it's successful. The two are astounded, and careless when they leave the bottle behind and the Hammond's maid finds it and puts it in the cupboard next to the real bottle of Tabasco. Jack returns home that night and almost immediately asks Chris about his biology presentation. As Jack prepares himself a Bloody Mary, he grabs the Tabasco bottle containing Trigger's potion and puts a few drops in his drink. When he hears that Chris got a C, he turns around to reprimand him about it and their minds switch. Their suspicions are confirmed when they see the cat and dog both acting like each other. Jack becomes depressed and spends the evening at home. Chris, now able to use his father's ID to drink, takes Trigger out for an evening at a nightclub. While there, Chris meets Ginnie, who is quite surprised to see "Jack" at a nightclub. She tells him she'll contact him later, Chris not knowing who she actually is. Chris returns home in the early hours of the morning, hungover. Jack is furious. Jack calls in sick to the hospital -- an usual occurrence -- and tells Chris he's going to take Chris' place at school over Chris' loud objection. Chris stays home and takes advantage of having the house all to himself. His boss, Dr Armbruster, knowing that Jack never calls in ill, decides to stop by the Hammond's house and finds Jack well. Chris agrees to report to the hospital where he goes on rounds, letting his interns handle patient reports and medications. They later go out with Chris/Jack and now appear to have a better rapport with the usually stoic Jack. Jack/Chris is later furious with his son when he finds out he went on rounds and loosened-up his hard-nosed relationship with his students. Meanwhile, at school, Jack impresses Chris' teachers with his vast knowledge of Chris' lessons, eventually becoming an annoyance to Chris' teachers and fellow students. He also rats out a classmate who plays a prank on a teacher. Chris is quickly ostracized by his father's actions despite Jack's belief that he can help Chris excel academically and be admitted to a top pre-med college. Chris' big track meet is later that day and Jack, despite having no experience at running, participates as the relay team anchor. He blows the crucial final lap, dropping the baton and diving for the finish line but coming up far short. When he leaves after the meet, Rick confronts him but Jack ignores him and runs over his foot. That night, he takes Laurie out to the concert as promised but makes her leave early when the music played by the heavy metal band bothers him too much. Laurie is very annoyed and storms into her house. Suddenly, Rick grabs Jack/Chris and beats him severely. At home, Chris/Jack gets a surprise visit from Ginnie. Knowing he stands a good chance at having sex with her, he invites her in but since he's not as sophisticated or charming as his father, he blows the date, even setting a love seat on fire. Ginnie storms out leaving Chris to be confronted by his father when he gets home. The two of them argue: Jack/Chris is upset that he was beaten up and still has to go to the interview for Chris the next day with the admissions rep from the pre-med college. Chris/Jack wants his father to leave him alone to choose his own life goals. Suddenly, Trigger shows up saying he'd gotten in contact with Earl and they need to go with his uncle to Death Valley to find the antidote to the transference serum. After searching for a key ingredient, Earl cooks up the antidote and Chris and Jack stare at each other, seemingly with no effect. Earl suggests that it will take some time to work. On their way back they stop off at a gas station and find a woman ready to deliver a baby. Jack/Chris takes control and has the husband, Trigger and Earl all help out. Chris/Jack passes out at the sight of the baby being born. After they return home, Jack/Chris goes to Chris' interview but it's cut short when the antidote takes effect. Chris/Jack is in a private meeting with Dr Armbruster who confronts Jack about playing around with his wife. Jack is overjoyed that he's returned to his own body. Chris is about to race out of the school to find his father when he's met by Rick. Rick challenges Chris to a fairer fight, even volunteering to keep both hands behind his back. Chris knocks him out cold and hurries off to find his dad. He bursts into the staff meeting where they'll decide who the new chief of staff is and tries to convince Jack's colleagues that he's blameless for the incident with Ginnie. However, Jack comes in and assures Chris that he doesn't want the position after all and turns the board down flat. Jack and Chris walk off with a new understanding of their relationship. As they leave, Trigger sees Rick lying on a gurney following his being knocked out by Chris. With some of the serum still left, Trigger sneaks up on Rick and pours it into his mouth. Trying to spit it out, Rick locks eyes with the passing Armbruster. Their minds swap places and Rick/Armbruster asks Rick if he has insurance. Armbruster/Rick replies harshly. The two realize what's happened and scream, which is heard by Jack and Chris as they walk away.
Read more →
