The Exchange movie review & film summary (2021)

Tim is certain his exchange student will be like a character out of the New Wave films: taciturn, cynical, blasé ironic, basically what you might get if a black turtleneck and a package of Galois had a teenage boy. Instead, he gets Stephane (Avan Jogia) who is what you might get if a St. Bernard puppy and some out of control hormones with positively no impulse control had a teenage boy. In other words, a teenage boy, but a very different one from Tim. Stephane is ebullient, outgoing, and very eager to have sex and almost as eager to talk about having sex. If there could be anything more horrifying for Tim than the isolation he feels, it has to be having Stephane act as nightmare walking id. In the very first scene, before a flashback to Tim's first learning about the exchange program, we see Tim and a girl he has no idea how to get close to shivering in the front seat of the car in the middle of a snowstorm as Stephane has very loud sex with another girl in the back seat. The combined envy and humiliation is infuriating. But he may learn that on the other side of devastating embarrassment seen by everyone you know is a kind of freedom.

Hobart's mascot is the white squirrel. There's a guy who is really into the town's annual White Squirrel Parade and some others, including Tim's mother (Jennifer Irwin, rocking '70s hair in the '80s and yet somehow still giving a warm, layered performance). The town's economy is in a deep recession with many businesses closing, and Tim's dad's tractor dealership could be next. A narcissistic gym teacher (Justin Hartley, having a lot of fun as an outrageous character far from "This is Us" drama) is dating the school secretary and doing his best to prove to everyone how important he is.

The '80s music on the soundtrack is fun (I got a kick out of hearing Swing Out Sister again) but the humor in putting '80s technology on screen is limited. It is surprising that someone associated with "The Simpsons" would produce a script so conventionally structured. The second half has a predictable, sit-com-ish vibe, not as effective as the similarly themed "Son of Rambow" and "Days of the Bagnold Summer." Long's screenplay pushes around the puzzle pieces of all of these characters, events, and discoveries so that they all line up as expected, but the process makes for a pleasant ride with some genuinely endearing moments. (Stay for the mid-credit "exchange.")

Now available on demand and on digital platforms.

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