My Review of "The Exchange"

The Exchange is an unapologetic Canadian movie that is so full of heart that you'll want to live in the small town it's based in. It's a movie concept that we've seen before but done with a lot of new twists. A lot of the movie however is held on the charms of a lot of the actors.

This movie opens up by explaining the environment. It's based in the 80s and in a small town in Ontario Canada. We have our main protagonist Tim, an awkward somewhat elitist teenager that has no friends. It's kind of understandable as to why he doesn't have friends though. We've all met people like Tim. He's really into Parisian culture and wants to become more worldly. As a teenager in the 80's, old French movies and art will not win you a lot of friends.

Obviously Tim is mocked constantly by everyone in his school except for a girl named Brenda who is obviously infatuated by Tim. Of course Tim doesn't see any of it as he's blind to anything except for high concept art.

Even Tim's parents worry about him. They're such a loving couple and I love everything about his parents. I can see his parents being based on real life parents because they have very Canadian mannerisms and it's just hilarious.

In order to alleviate his feelings of loneliness, Tim opts to adopt a student in the foreign exchange student program. He hopes that the student he's getting from Paris will be able to identify with him. Finally he might have somebody to talk to about Parisian culture.

Sadly for Tim he gets a different type of student in the exchange program. We get the ever so bubbly Stephane. He's a typical teenager but with a different cultural take. Stephane is a sex crazed teenage boy that wants to have fun and make friends. The energy of his character is so intoxicating. You'll fall in love with his character immediately and this is where a ton of the fun from the movie comes from.

The dynamics between Tim and Stephane work brilliantly. It's the usual straight man and goofy man buddy combination that we're so used to in movies. I love this cross cultural twist that they give this movie.

Being an 80's movie based in a small town in Canada makes it that much more heartwarming. There are so many inappropriate things that happen in this movie but there's an air of believability with all of these shenanigans. I even love the fact that they talk about race and the issues of being a different in a small town in those days. Despite the racial awkwardness you still fall in love with the naivety of the locals.

As a small budget movie you'll have few issues here and there. I didn't like that their use of special effects. It's painfully obvious when everyone is in front of a green screen in this movie. Each time it happens it reminded me about how low budget this movie was. In some cases I didn't think they were even that necessary to have.

Overall, I really loved this movie. For those of you that live in Canada this is especially a movie you should check out. There are a ton of Canadian elements in this movie that make this movie feel so authentic. Even though you're not from Canada I think you can still really enjoy this movie. Everyone in this movie is so welcoming that you can't help but fall in love with it. That's why I have to give this movie a 9 out of 10. I will definitely be recommending this movie to all my friends and family.