If you can believe that 25 or 30 years would change your appearance, mannerisms and voice to the extent that your wife and friends wouldn’t recognize you, well, then, maybe you’ll buy into this charmless, underwritten melodrama.

I wanted to like this film because justice is served and the sanctity of marriage is uplifted. Unfortunately, I found the writing, acting and concept less than satisfying. It became implausible, and half-hearted. For example: this professional cop leaves the murder weapon with his prints on it for investigators to find. Then, rather than confess to his younger self who he really is, he pretends to be a detective friend of his father’s. Had he provided the police with his fingerprints, it would have been a simple matter of proving his identity, thereby eliminating the film’s major conundrums. This year’s theatrical release, “Frequency,” also contains several large gaps in plausibility and has pacing problems in the beginning, but it’s plot is far more suspenseful and complex.

If there isn’t any other family-friendly programming on, “The Man Who Used to Be Me” is not a complete waste of time; it just doesn’t seem to be up to Fox Family’s usual quality.