Xchange (2001) User Reviews

1000's of Baldwins

[juliankennedy23 · 7/10 · 18 October 2006]

Xchange 7 out of 10: Any movie that starts out with the premise that society has purposely cloned hundreds of Steven Baldwins embarks with one foot in the grave. And the plot of people's consciousness traveling to different host bodies and "the Corporation" losing some poor schlubs original body is right out of Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. (For those who are not Canadians, PBS watchers or MST3000 fans, Overdrawn is one of the worst pieces of science fiction ever created and defiantly not Raul Julia's finest hour.)

Yet the movie pulls itself out of this one two punch with a smarter than it had to be script (at least until the tired and predictable third act) and some rather enthusiastic sex scenes (more on that in a minute).

First the script. Now most science fiction films when talking a big new technology like consciousness transfer will create some crazy take over the world, the world will end, destroy civilization as we know it scheme. Xchange takes a different much more realistic and creative track. People hop into other bodies to avoid exercise, avoid long lines at the airport and experiment sexually. In other words what people in real life use mind blowing technology for. (The internet is a mind-blowing piece of technology and people use it not to gain control of the universe or gather great amounts of knowledge they use it to post useless opinions on movies, download porn and shop for collector plates on E-bay.) Now the third act does fall apart with talking killers and vats of acid not to mention car chases that wouldn't be out of place in an A-team episode but by this point the movies charm has sunk in.

As for the sex scenes unlike many films with plastic woman and men who attempt to copulate with the woman's navel while still wearing their underwear, Xchange features sweaty, athletic and realistic sex. This along with some decent violence and good non-Baldwin acting helps elevate Xchange into a top tier of B-movies.

An out of body experience - literally

[Rogue-32 · 7/10 · 15 August 2002]

XChange's jumping-off point involves an extremely clever way to travel - you switch into someone else's body, and they switch into yours; that way you can attend that all-important meeting in San Francisco without never actually leaving New York. Smart, huh. But with new technology comes new evil-doers - body terrorists, who 'float' from one body to another, wreaking havoc along the way. This is an endlessly creative flick that never gets boring, with another great performance from Kyle MacLachlan to boot. See it in any state of your choosing.

Traditional straight-to-video/dvd fare, not bad though

[vabarnamees · 5/10 · 20 January 2002]

This is a completely trivial lightweight action flick, yet it succeeded in entertaining (at least me). Its science fiction setting is almost entirely window dressing, although a few valiant efforts have been made to illustrate the futuristic setting. Most of the time these gadgets and technological wonders look and seem familiar from other, more innovative movies, but here they've been done convincingly enough.

The actors all do decent work, maybe with the exception of Janet Kidder, whose on-the-verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown persona is a bit grating for my tastes. Neither am I plagued by an allergy of the Baldwin brothers, that some of the other reviewers here seem to be suffering from. Stephen seems to be doing just fine on the acting front, maybe even better than his more famous brothers :)

The tension in the plot is constant, if totally predictable. Yes, you have probably seen this done before a dozen times (at least), so don't see it if you're always craving for something brand new and original. But... it's done quite well, so it's a safe bet. Science fiction, it's not, though. Good show. A 5 out of 10 from me.

Had potential but doesn't have any tension or excitement

[bob the moo · 7 March 2004]

In the near future, corporate customers can save time on air travel by jumping into other bodies for short periods of time. Despite being unwilling, Toffler jumps into a body in order to attend a meeting in San Francisco. However, when it comes to returning to his old body he is told that his body has been stolen by the terrorist who had been in the body he jumped into. Toffler jumps into a clone in order to escape and, with a temporary body decomposing over 54 hours, he sets out to find Fisk and reclaim his body.

In the near future, body switching is possible for the rich, id badges tell everyone who you are, High Fidelity is playing at the cinema, but yet nobody has ever seen the film Face/Off. Yes - this is the future as seen in a low budget movie. Alarm bells rang for me when the credits revealed that this was, yes, a film who's main cast were Baldwin, MacLachlan and Coates! Happily though, it wasn't actually that bad, just rather unexciting and uninspiring. The plot has promise but it doesn't deliver it well enough. Face/Off had the same basic plot but it moved much quicker and slicker than this. The problem is that the plot feels too baggy and ill thought out with too much that isn't fully expanded on. This wouldn't be a major problem if the film moved slickly and with a lot of energy.

Sadly, it doesn't. The film has the odd exciting moment but generally it lacks tension and is a bit too slow and talky. Three times the film falls back on needless sex scenes in an attempt to give the audience what it came for. The conclusion of the film is obvious and, for that reason, lacks punch. It's a shame because, even with a low budget and less-than-perfect effects, the film could still have been exciting if the director had done a better job with the pacing of the film; as it is he delivers it too slowly.

The good ideas flicker up along the way - the best being near the end as Toffler's disregard for his cloned body becomes useful, but generally it is quite lacklustre. Even though the cast suggested worse, they were actually reasonably good. Coates is always watchable and, don't worry, after a brief spell as the good buy he soon changes to the bad guy role. MacLachlan seems to have taken the role just as a cameo and a chance to have a sex scene. Baldwin is slumming and it shows a bit too often. He is OK for the film but he didn't have that much in the way of charisma; sure he played more than one character, but he still wasn't all that hot.

Overall this is not as bad a film as I have maybe put across here. If you have rented it as a cheapy video or are watching it on a low rent cable station, then you probably know what's in store. As such, it works OK but it is still hard to overlook a plot that could have been tighter and a film that really needed a lot more in the way of tension and excitement to keep it going. Worth watching if you're in the mood.

Less than expected

[marcelo_7 · 3/10 · 8 November 2002]

This movie is supposed to be somewhat futuristic and by the title and the cover I felt it would be like watching something similar to "Minority Report" as that movie also is a futuristic one only with more hi-tech everywhere they go. The movie starts out well, because you don't understand what's going on in the beginning which makes you curious. The first half or something was good, more or less, but after that it all starts to get a little complicated and also uninteresting. Besides, I like when the computerized animations are well done in movies and I can't say these guys have bothered to make it look good and realistic in this one. Finally one last complaint, Stephen Baldwin's acting pretty much ruined the rest of the movie, (since he was in the rest of it), because it didn't look like he took the role seriously. I honestly think I saw him smile JUST before they cut to the next scene in a tense situation where he had just been slapped . These small things added up made the movie -> not worth seeing. I can't say I regret i saw it to 100% but at least 85% :).

/Marcelo G.

B Flick with Boobies.

[phaedrav · 7/10 · 13 November 2003]

X Change is pretty standard B grade cable TV sci fi but the mostly gratuitous sex scenes make a point of showing bare breasts in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Oh and there are some thoughtful ideas in the story as well.

what the ... are they doing?

[raindead · 2/10 · 24 September 2006]

Well... it seems in the distant future...if you would like to travel to some distant place (not what you think, it's more like from new york to pariz or some of your business travels similar)...well the thing you do is... It's really easy actually!!! Just transfer your mind (soul etc. and whatever) to some body at the location you want to go and voila!...I really don't know what to say at this point on... let's just think about it a little. Even if all the public transportation at this point in time is practically nonexistent, and you would really have to travel to a business appointment just by foot and a boat across the ocean...and the only alternative would be switching a body with some other guy that was in a place that you want to go to (yes, *this* *is* the technology they have in that distant future...what happened to planes, tranes and automobiles? I'm guessing it's the lobbyists again...). But you'd do everything for business right? Yes! I'd even switch a body with another GUY (I'm a guy as well, remember?) and I'd walk around in this GUY's body and even had sex (at least it's with a woman, (but who knows, she wasn't in her body as well) (no offense to you gay people)). Well plots like this really get you thinking: were these guys just idiots? or is this some... I don't even want to talk about it. Would you really just switch bodies with some dude so you would save yourself from a couple of hours of travel? You might change it with a chick so you could touch some boobies, but what would she be doing with your body??? Unless she's a lesbian or you're up to anything... I really can't see how anyone could make this kind of movie and not call it pron.

Dark, great fun. Created a believable unbelievable world.

[sun007 · 6/10 · 17 December 2001]

I thought Kyle McLachlin was a great bad guy. The atmosphere was wonderful and the music quite good. It was a world fully realized and the way the characters crept through the plot was well drawn. I'd see it again if it were replayed.

Worst SciFi movie ever

[Durbik · 1/10 · 25 January 2003]

Heck, it's even the worst movie I have ever seen, all categories. No good features there. Baldwin runs from here to there, scaring everybody with his face. And that's the end of a thrill for this 'motion picture'.

I can live with Baldwin, whatever. But how come there's not a single quote, guy, lady, weapon, explosion, anything that would be simply good? Everything is wrong. The idea of mind exchange - yeah, right. Monomolecular string? Everybody with primary school finished - laugh it out. No possibility for single molecular line to cut anything. Women? Ugly. My God, they are all ugly. Futuristic cars? Funny. Plot development? Naive. Baldwin and his g/f achieve conclusions without knowing key facts.

Who would be that rich/bored/naive to spend any cash to see this movie? Not me.

Nice start idea, but bad development

[siderite · 6/10 · 7 July 2005]

This is an average movie. Nothing special about it. The production is OK, acting is OK, story is OK, but nothing out of the ordinary for these types of movies.

The good thing about this movie is the underlying idea. A very nice concept that unfortunately gets lost after a few minutes of the film. The implications, the complexities of putting this idea in practice, could have filled an entire series with lots of room for development (unlike the sci-fi star trek clones that sooner or later begin copying each other and the occasional cop movie - or worst, Hercules or Xena).

If you want a scifi "quickie", then you might want to try this one.

"You won't believe it when you take a sh*t in someones else's body." Average futuristic Sci-Fi thriller.

[poolandrews · 4/10 · 25 September 2005]

Xchange starts, & I quote, 'Tomorrow' in New York (complete with the Twin Towers...) where powerful businessman Eisner Scott (Scot Denton) is assassinated one night after dinner, it is thought that a terrorist organisation known as the 'NIA' was responsible. To smooth things over with the press Eisner's son Quayle (Charles Powell) calls in PR man Stewart Toffler (Kim Coates), unfortunately Quayle & the press conference is in San Francisco while Toffler is in New York so Toffler uses a process called Xchange where his consciousness is swapped with another person in San Francisco & thus swapping bodies too. Everything goes extremely well to start with & the press conference is a success but upon his return to be Xchanged back into his proper body Toffler (Kyle MacLachlan) discovers that his old body is now being used by terrorist named Fisk, as the company wants to keep the incident quiet Toffler is put under armed guard but manages to escape by Xchanging into a genetically engineered clone (Stephen Baldwin) that only lasts for 48 hours. Toffler contacts a friend named Madeleine Renard (Pascale Bussieres) a journalist who opposes the Xchange process, together they must locate Toffler's real body before time runs out...

This Canadian produced film was directed by Allan Moyle & is an OK time waster but the whole thing feels empty & distinctly average. The script by Christopher Pelham is alright, the film reveals it's twists too early as by the half way mark you know pretty much everything. Not that it's difficult to guess where Xchange is going, in fact it's far too easy work out what's going to happen. The budget obviously wasn't high as although Xchange is meant to be set in the future everything looks exactly like it does now apart from the interiors of the Xchange building & some of the props & technology. The central idea is solid & makes for a decent story but I couldn't help feel I was watching some cheap shot-for-TV film with it's lacklustre production design, generally poor special effects, dull cinematography, music I can't even remember even though I only watched it a few hours ago, desperate has been actors & a complete lack of anything exciting. There are a few sex scenes here but even they can't save Xchange from being throughly average, the sort of film that you would put on but wouldn't mind pooping out to the kitchen to make dinner while it's on or reading a book at the same time, there's just something about Xchange that totally failed to grip or engage me in anyway. There are a couple of nice moments, like when Toffler's boss Xchange's bodies with his personal trainer so he can work out in his body while he sits back & relaxes. Director Moyle fails to inject any sort of pace, excitement or suspense into the proceedings which obviously doesn't help Xchange's entertainment value. Oh OK I'll say it, I didn't want to but I will, Xchange looks like a cheap X-Files (1993 - 2002) episode. There is a touch of violence with a severed finger & a couple of gunfights but nothing that would worry or impress anybody these days. The acting is pretty poor throughout, the bad guy is bland & dull & I just never felt anything for anyone. Xchange is not a great film but then it's not a really bad one either, it's a film which left me somewhat cold & indifferent. It's an OK way to pass 100 odd minutes if you have nothing better to do or watch but I doubt it will blow anyone's socks off. Xchange is average at best, bland nonsense at worst but usually stuck somewhere between the two.

Much better than its reputation

[sarastro7 · 8/10 · 23 March 2004]

Don't listen to the other comments here. This is one science fiction movie that works. It manages to get all the things it's got going against it, work *for* it.

Take the male lead, for instance. Stephen Baldwin is not the sharpest knife in the drawer (and indeed, hasn't exactly starred in a lot of quality movies). So in this movie he's got no mind of his own. He's an assembly line clone, used as a host or worker body for the corporate jetset. That's putting a man of Stephen Baldwin's caliber to the best possible use!

The movie is about mind transfers. That's the plot, and the writer takes the utmost consequence of what this means. A plot that would be an insufferably silly stunt-of-the-week on an episode of Star Trek, Stargate or Farscape, manages here to be described disturbingly realistically and in a near-present day setting. Every possible twist that could possibly be imagined if this technology existed is commented on in one way or the other. No stone is left unturned. The sexual possibilities alone remain an important on-going sub-plot. This is highly unusual for a run-of-the-mill sci fi/action flick.

The SFX are fairly few, and integrated seamlessly and perfectly into the story. The one-molecule-thick cutting wire is really cool.

Like I said, it works. All of it. It is engaging, coherent, tasteful (all the four female main characters have topless scenes, and no, they are *not* gratuitous, but enhance the characterization), well-written, and goes out of its way to avoid clichés. For commercial flicks of any kind, this doesn't happen often. It's too bad the guy who wrote it hasn't done anything else.

I'm amazed to see that most of the commentators here have such a low opinion of this movie. Don't listen to them. This movie succeeds in everything it sets out to do. For a B movie, it is good. Surprisingly good. It will hold up for several viewings, if you're the type of person who can appreciate it. This is going to be a cult favorite.

8 out of 10.

Fun movie, worth watching if you don't have anything better to do...

[theguy · 6/10 · 7 March 2002]

I saw this movie on HBO while on a business trip. The movie started at 11:00 PM and ended somewhere around 1:00 AM...

It was good enough to hook me into it (and keep me up until 1:00 AM), but I think it was one of those movies that is really good at midnight and bad when watching it in the afternoon (when you have all of your senses).

One thing I noticed in my half-awake state -- there was one scene with a futuristic 3-wheeled shiny silver car (an obvious attempt to make you think, "Oh, this happens in the future."), yet all of the other scenes (including a big car chase scene at the end) all have 1999-2000 era cars... Wow! Cool! :P

Despite some bad choices, the movie was interesting -- a cross between The Hidden and Freejack. If you've seen those two movies (and didn't hate them), check out X Change.

One final tidbit -- most of the movie happens in a futureistic New York, with LOTS of nice views of the World Trade Center towers...

Guy

I don't know how this movie got a 5.8 unless the Baldwin brothers did all the voting themselves

[Chameleon-VPR · 1/10 · 19 June 2001]

I don't have much to say about this movie. It has bad writing, bad acting, and a bad plot. The idea was good but it just didn't work out. Don't waste your time watching it unless you just can't get enough of the Baldwins.

Think of it as "Body/Off" instead of "Face/Off"...(SOME POSSIBLE SPOILERS)

[cchase · 25 February 2001]

When a sci-fi thriller ambitiously aims to mix elements of FACE/OFF, BLADE RUNNER, TOTAL RECALL and Michael Crichton's RUNAWAY, it's either going to wind up a gawd-awful mess, or a nifty little actioner that will make you use your thinking cap for a change. If you like movies that you can watch from the second act without missing a beat, don't try it with this one. If you don't watch from the opening, you won't know what the hell is going on. As a matter of fact, if you're not used to films that require at least a little brain power, you might want to skip this one altogether...

There aren't many films these days where you will see the lead character portrayed by three or more actors, (not counting BEING JOHN MALKOVICH), so here goes:

At an unspecified time in the distant (but not-too-distant) future, class distinctions have been narrowed down to two categories: "corpies," who are soulless, greedy corporate types into money, materialism and power, (in other words, not much different from the way they are now) and The Rest Of Us, scrapping and struggling to make a living. Of course, among the disenfranchised and disgusted members of The Rest Of Us, there are corporate terrorists who want to shake up the system the best way they know how, and one of those methods is by assassination. When we first see Fisk (Kyle MacLachlan), that's exactly what we find him doing: engineering the astonishing and messy death of a high-level corpie.

Next we meet Steven Toffler (Kim Coates), a corpie who cares about little more than how to get his malfunctioning environmental home computer fixed, and where his next promotion is coming from. He discovers the answer to his latter problem, as his boss is sending him to close a deal with a company called X CHANGE, (hence the title.) X CHANGE is in the business of providing an unusual perk for corpies: body-switching, which is treated with all the routine mediocrity of taking shuttle flights from one city to another, only instead of switching planes, it's switching bodies. A corpie in Boulder, Colorado who wants to skip the travel time, jet lag, etc., can simply switch bodies with some guy in New York for a business trip, spend the required time needed in the host body, then switch back to his own.

Toffler is not at all keen on the process, but since his boss has decreed it (and there could be a raise in the offing), he goes in for his first X CHANGE experience, which everybody promises will be as easy as taking a cab. Right? Guess again.

Switching from San Francisco to the X CHANGE home office in New York, Toffler is introduced to his new host body. He has no idea who this guy is, but we do...it's Fisk, the coporate assassin, or at least the man we know as Fisk. Got all that?

Circumstances occur that send up red flags, which should've alerted Toffler that he's in a lot of trouble, but he doesn't become aware of it, until he returns to X CHANGE'S offices. Bad news: his "real body" is missing, stolen by Fisk. Worse, still: the body he's in was one that Fisk stole earlier, and it's original owner wants it back! And now the most devastating news: Toffler's consciousness will have to be placed in a "loaner"--a genetically-enhanced clone body that only lasts a week, where he'll be kept at X CHANGE as a "guest", until Fisk can be found.

Not happy about this idea, Toffler escapes by making an X CHANGE with a clone other than the one intended for him, (Stephen Baldwin). So for the remainder of the movie, Stephen Baldwin plays Toffler, while Kim Coates gets to slink around as Fisk, booting Kyle MacLachlan out of the picture. Oh, and one other catch: the clone body Toffler now inhabits will only last 48 hours. So he has two days to find Fisk and get his real body back, or die.

Confusing? Seems that way when you try to explain it on paper. But somehow director Allan Moyle (PUMP UP THE VOLUME) manages to carry it off, with an engaging cast of Canadian actors backing the American leads, especially the comely Pascale Bussieres as Madeleine Raynard, an ex-lover of Toffler's who has turned into an anti-X CHANGE activist, and is his only hope of sorting out his situation.

There's action, cool gadgets, a little sex thrown in, and even a little speculation (though not enough to be meaningful) about the ramifications of literally becoming someone else and being able to do what you want in their body without consequence.

But that's an issue for a much weightier film. Your best bet with X CHANGE is to go with the flow and enjoy it for what it is--an above-average B-movie thriller.

Guaranteed to lower your IQ by 10 points.

[=G= · 5/10 · 29 November 2001]

"X Change" is a mediocre sci-fi drama with a linchpin involving the swapping of human consciousness with the human body. An okay shoot with a make-it-up-as-you-go plot worked in present day environs with futuristic gadgets, the flick spends most of its time with Baldwin on screen running around looking for his hijacked body while having sex with assorted women and trying to get to the bottom of a convoluted corporate power struggle scheme. Turn off your brain before viewing and you may squeeze some escapist entertainment out of this slick but sloppy flick.

Great idea...missing something

[x111b3825 · 6/10 · 2 August 2002]

I really love a good sci-fi flick because and the best of them are few and far between.

This movie has (had) so much potential and is a sweet idea, there was just some kind of flash missing that caused it to come off dark and cold.

I've seen it twice now and remember from the first viewing liking it, but have solidified it after a second--how it might have come off better with something like a Spielberg flair. This isn't to say that his more recent works aren't simply trying to go after the widest Hollywood audience. Some are really great (like the most recent "Minority Report"), but this still came off cold and on the dull side even with solid acting performances and a good story. The concept is very cool.

Still, I cannot put my finger on the life that is missing that would have made this a great flick.

Very Bad Movie, You can predict every move.

[ride277 · 1/10 · 13 August 2001]

I've seen this movie at my friends house. When we had seen 30 minutes, the majority wanted to get it out the vcr. I told them, give it another chance. So we watched the whole movie. At the end i was sorry i persuaded them on watching it till the end. It was BAD. Every move is predictable! And the story is sooo damn standard. A bad guy wants to do something immoral, these 2 "heroes" stop him and "save the world". My advice is not to spend your $$ on this crap.

Face/Off part 2

[Ramden · 6/10 · 29 April 2003]

To say that this movie is original would be just as true as saying that Steven Seagal will ever win a best actor award. But it does have a few original ideas. The acting and the special effects are so so, but you're generally entertained. The movie could have used some more action scenes though, to make up for the insufficiencies. If you're just looking for a movie that doesn't require too much brain activity but isn't completely moronic, then "Xchange" isn't too bad an idea.

this film is terrible

[Matt-513 · 1/10 · 5 March 2004]

This has to be possibly the worst film I have ever seen, and I didn't even watch all of it. I had to turn it off it was that bad. It has a bunch of nobody's in it who probably couldn't get a job acting a Daytime US soap they are that bad (and that's includes Stephen Baldwin). The special effects (if you can call them that), are laughable, and the storyline is just confusing with one person swapping minds with another like it's going out of fashion. Oh, and the plot is so thin and predictable it is cringeworthy. How it got anywhere near a score of 5.4 on here baffles me, and those people who gave it more than 2/10 obviously don't know what a good film is even if it smacked them over the head with a sledghammer!

Get it?

X-Change this film for a good one

[The_Void · 7/10 · 7 November 2004]

In this film, humans are able to jump from body to body by means of a new form of technology. Why? Transport. Yes, it's a new means of transport; you swap bodies with someone at your destination, thus allowing you to get there instantly. Sounds ridiculous, and I cant think of a single reason why anyone would want to engage in this transaction, thus rendering this idea stupid; but, well, it's only a film. The movie follows the story of a corporate class man that must get to a meeting in a different town, and the only way to get there in time is to 'x-change'. Conversely, our hero is dead against the idea of x-changing so he initially refuses to do it. However, his boss drives a hard bargain, and after thirty seconds of relentless convincing; our hero is on his way to another man's body so he can attend the meeting! However, things aren't going to be that simple or we'd be in for a rather boring ride, so he unwittingly x-changes bodies with a terrorist that refuses to give his body back! Obviously, body stealing is a crime and therefore our guy can't simply stay in the body he's in, so he has to x-change with a clone. Don't you just hate it when that happens? However, it gets worse as clones only have a life span of approximately two days, so our hero must now race against time to stop the terrorists, sleep with as many women as possible and get his old body back! However, things are never that simple.... nah, just kidding; that's pretty much it.

Going back to the film's central premise...it really is stupid. Imagine if people were really able to 'body swap'; we'd never know who's who. I mean, what if your wife swapped bodies with Salma Hayek? Sure, you might THINK that would be good, but would it be really? ...Yeah, it probably would. Seriously though, it would be chaos; you'd soon get people abusing the privilege, and there'd be anarchy before you could say 'what a silly idea', due to all the terrorists swapping bodies with politicians and things like that. The actual idea of body swapping isn't that bad, but it should have been portrayed in a more feasible way. The film is also one of those very convenient ones, where whatever tools the characters need just magically appear to be there, and the film quickly becomes predictable because of this. It also doesn't fully capitalise on the central idea; it depicts a man in someone else's body, yet we hardly ever see the two on screen. If it had made more of a meal our hero 'seeing himself', the film would have been infinitely better. You can tell that the writers started to run out of ideas after a while too, as the final third is packed with sex that doesn't really serve any relevance to the plot at all.

It's a shame that this film isn't better as the idea could have built a really good film. It is hindered instantly by low production values, and the tired script and lack of invention don't do it any favours either. I would recommend watching this only if it's on and you have nothing else to do. Otherwise; you can afford to live your whole life without ever seeing this film.

"O my sugar pie, this is your first float isn't it?"

[hwgrayson · 5/10 · 29 January 2024]

This would have been a better film if it had stuck to Kim Coates playing Toffler and Kyle MacLachan playing Fisk as the body swopped antagonists but it brings in a Baldwin brother after half an hour and then the story starts becoming rather uninteresting. The rest of the cast don't make much of an impression. The idea of the body exchange could have been amplified into a good film but here it is wasted away on a wandering plot. The budget of the film couldn't portray the near future with any conviction. The plot twists are easily predictable. There are poorly executed fight scenes and the musical score is unmemorable. On the whole the film is uninspired and dull.

Once again the old adage is proved true...

[IslandMadMacs · 8/10 · 5 February 2006]

You don't need a big budget to make a fantastic film.

Simply put: This is an entertaining and surprising movie with everything you could ask for - genuine suspense with believable plot twists, well-timed action, memorable comedy, and special effects that actually has a purpose beyond the "see-what-we-can-do" arrogance of many blockbuster productions.

I regularly contribute to IMDb's I Need To Know Board where many board favorites tend to be the memorable kitschy flicks. In the coming years - this will be one of them - I guarantee it. Not only is this a really fun movie to idle away a 'popcorn video night', it's filled with unique visual hooks and interesting plot twists that tend to find their way into the collected memories of film fans.

While others have noted similarities to other well-known films of the genre - I urge you to watch this with a fresh mindset (pun intended).

This is probably one of the best Stephen Baldwin films from his hodge-podge career. Had he chosen to do more along these lines I suspect his limelight wouldn't have gotten so dusty that he'd end up as a B-rated 'star' for reality TV schlock. Doing solid, low budget, but profitable films is a career track that had Edward Herrimann and C. Thomas Howell working for decades while their "will-only-work-for-great-scripts/directors" driven counterparts have been forgotten or relegated to the world of early retirement.

Good Cast, Enjoyable Premise

[refinedsugar · 6/10 · 9 April 2024]

'Xchange' is a dtv tale from the early 2000's that like many titles has been forgotten. Seeing it again over twenty years later - the fact remains this is a decent trip with a good cast. Back then, I would brought up the obvious big names in Stephen Baldwin and Kyle MacLachlan, but now it's gotta be said this is one of the better starring roles Kim Coates got as well. A good blend of sci-fi, action with small things to say about classism and identity.

In the not so distant future, high society uses temporary bodies for convenience and fast travel thru a company called Xchange. The science allows a person to teleport their mind which is where we find Toffler (Coates) as a NYC exec who needs to do it begrudgingly when he's needed in San Francisco with hours notice for a big meeting after the CEO is assassinated. The issue is he trades places with the terrorist Fisk (MacLachlan) responsible and later has to settle for being in a cloned body (Baldwin) with a two day lifespan before it stops functioning and he ceases to exist permanently.

Shot in Montreal, Canada and I'm sure on a modest budget the filmmakers have done a good job utilizing the city and their means to make a good looking film. They don't go high tech, futuristic keeping things fairly down to earth minus the ability to transfer bodies of course. Baldwin, MacLachlan and Coates are solid in addition to supporting players from the Canadian cast. The top three also get the opportunity to play both good, bad guys. There's a bunch of gunplay, fisticuffs, always fun female nudity. Despite what others say it's still plenty gratuitous.

'Xchange' won't wow you with it's conspiracy, murder mystery - it's fairly obvious who the bad guys are, their cliche intentions. The sci-fi plot might boil down to a 'getting my life back' action-fest and it loses steam towards the end, but I had fun with it. A rare b-movie I was glad to have given a shot even if the story isn't totally original.

fails a second pass

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 25 April 2016]

tomorrow... There is a new technology to exchange consciousness between two bodies. XChange allows people to travel great distances by doing a mind transfer. Fisk (Kyle MacLachlan) is a terrorist using guided missiles on targeted assassinations. Toffler (Kim Coates) is a member of the entitled corporate class. He reluctantly uses XChange to travel from New York to San Francisco. Unbeknowst to him, the other side is Fisk. Upon returning to New York, he is detained to keep the incident secret. He manages to escape and download his mind into a temporary clone (Stephen Baldwin). He gets help from anti-XChange journalist Madeleine Renard (Pascale Bussières) to track down his body before the clone terminates.

This is a Canadian sci-fi. The idea seems compelling at first but it doesn't make a second pass at the logic test. The STD alone is enough to end the system. Transferring into the Baldwin clones would make more sense. I've seen that movie, too. A lot of this are old sci-fi tropes. The production is lower budget. The special effects are second tier. The most troubling is that the three leads play the same guy at one point or another. I don't see Kim Coates, Kyle MacLachlan, and Stephen Baldwin playing the same Toffler. It may be asking too much for Baldwin to do good acting. I simply don't buy they are the same character. This lesser sci-fi tries a couple of interesting ideas but it doesn't completely succeed.