The Exchange

source: The Exchange

I enjoyed this one quite a bit. The cast was great, especially Avan Jogia. He stole the show most of the time. I laughed out loud at least 5 or 6 times and the writing was really good. Check it out if you want a light Breakfast Club(ish) movie.

Great cast, funny movie. Loved the bullies in the film, Jack Beeston was hilarious. The Exchange was filmed in the Ottawa, Canada area. Ed, and Avan have great chemistry. Jennifer Irwin, and Paul Braunstein are relatable as my own parents in the 80's. Jayli Wolf, is a true shinning star.

Small town drab Ontario, mid-eighties, The Smiths poster on the bedroom wall, and a soft spot for France's New Wave cinema. Classic class nerd. Four-eyed and heartbreakingly awkward, Tim (Ed Oxenbould) finds a glimmer of hope to his sad sack existence with foreign exchange student Stephane (Avan Jogia). But instead of bileting a dissonant, trench-coated, intellectual poet, his mail ordered bride is a chain-smoking, acid washed greaseball, more interested in bedding the graduating class than discussing great cinema. Add bumbling parents, a ridiculously mustachioed gym teacher, an obvious love interest to the mix, and everything's in place for a feel good teen RomCom. Jogia is wonderful as the strutting fish out of water, obliviously embarrassing his local chaperone to no end. Yet the cookie cutter plot holds few surprises, as it methodically moves from initial, flirtatious fun, to some oil slicked drama mid-film, before bringing everyone and everything together in a tidy full circle. There's life in the characters, the film has some good laughs, but several interesting ideas are left dangling, and it lacks a knockout punch. The "Exchange" is certainly not without charm, but in the end, a tad underwhelming. hipCRANK.