Xchange (2001)

Not even bad in a good way

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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.

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.

I bought X-Change on DVD because I'm such a great fan of Kyle MacLachlan and in the end ,the only thing I could reproach to the film is the absence of this wonderful actor during the two thirds of the film.Indeed,he's the first body the main protagonist "floats" into and ,so as to make the story go on,it was necessary for him to say "Bye".About the film itself,I have to say I was gladly surprised:being never released in French cinemas,I was fearing to face a very common TV movie,deprived of rhythm and though the story may not be incredibly original,there's a good pace throughout the story and it doesn't look cheesy as many sci-fi films can.Maybe it's good to point out though,that Stephen"not very expressive" Baldwin and Kyle MacLachlan should have had their parts X-Changed for our pleasure,but well,what now is will still be,so...As a resume,this movie surely won't change your life and look upon things but it may help you kill some time and,all things being considered,that's already not so bad!

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?