Foreign Exchange

In comparison to other teen films, the general plot is very similar and we have seen it before. Foreign Exchange does follow the basic "American Pie" and "Superbad" formula and although it isn't on their level, this film isn't completely terrible. It is predictable but we don't watch these films for predictability.

The characters aren't bad. The lead (Ryan Pinkston- also starred in Extreme Movie, also released in 2008) is a solid actor who plays a likeable character. The other two best friends of Jay and Shantz show character development towards the end. The last friend Hashbrown (smart stoner- obvious given his nickname) was severely underused. It seemed as if he was going to have more of a central role when the film started but he was just used not too frequently with the same ongoing jokes. The lead female of Robyn (resembled somewhat Olivia Thirlby) was likeable yet naive, however everything of course worked out in the end for the lead protagonist (as expected).

The French foreign exchange student was also somewhat underused. Initially thought there was going to be a slight twist in the end revealing that he wasn't actually French and that he was conning everyone. Although he did get exposed for sabotaging Dave (his motive and actions were predictable from the start) but given his terrible French accent, one assumed his character wasn't actually French and there would be some "twist". But nothing of that sort.

Curtis Armstrong also has a bit role playing the father of the lead giving him weird advice. His metaphor was one of the highlights the first time it was said.

Now this film's comedy really isn't clever and the jokes aren't special or funny. It does copy Superbad in its comedy tone with the "sensitive yet raunchy-esque" type. It has that feel where it starts off as a raunchy type comedy than develops slowly to a softer drama with a soft touch.

The film is lower budget but it's not the type that is unwatchable. As in, the main characters are actual actors who have done previous work. As well as veteran television/Hollywood supporting actors (Curtis Armstrong, Jennifer Coolidge). The acting is definitely passable for this type of film. And the camera work looks quality. This film isn't anything special and wasn't made to win awards. It's a decent time waster type.

I recently watched Foreign Exchange (2008) on Tubi. The storyline revolves around four friends concluding high school and getting ready for college. They welcome foreign exchange students into their lives, thinking they'll be the ones imparting American fun, but soon discover they have something to learn themselves.

Directed by Danny Roth (Tag), the movie features Ryan Pinkston (Young Rock), Vanessa Lengies (Glee), Randy Wayne (Hellraiser: Judgement), Tania Raymonde (Lost), and Daniel Booko (21 & Over).

Noteworthy in this film are the entertaining cameos by Jennifer Coolidge (American Pie), Curtis Armstrong (Revenge of the Nerds), and Clint Howard (The Water Boy). Expect the typical topless scenes and crude one-liners fitting the genre. While the storyline leans towards cliché and the circumstances feel a bit cheesy, the cast's dynamic keeps the film engaging, resulting in a few smiles and chuckles.

In conclusion, Foreign Exchange falls short of being a good film, but it's not a complete waste of time either. I'd give it a 4/10 and suggest watching it once for the cameos and light-hearted humor.

I like sex-comedies. I do. If right, they can be really funny. American Pie is the example most people will give, and it is one of the best of it's kind. Even early sex comedies from Lloyd Kaufman, like the First Turn On! or Waitress. But this time, it's just getting annoying. Annoying characters, unoriginal storyline, unfunny jokes (although one your mom joke was hilarious), and so many more flaws. The story follows a geek who isn't getting any, and he is in love with a more popular girl, who he is friends with. Sound familiar? So, the geek's friends tell him he needs to have sex and blah blah...what do good friends do? They pressure their friend into having sex, and movies like this is probably why teens feel they need to have sex. Movies like this portray that this kid is a geek, until he has sex. And you may say, hey, in American Pie, they pressure the geek to have sex too! But that had a much better story, and actual funny jokes, and we can get on that subject another time. So in this movie, everyone gets foreign exchange students. The geek's student tries to screw up his life. In the end, you don't even like ANY of the characters, they are all really, just annoying. Just, I recommend avoiding this film. It is another teen sex comedy wanna be that steals it's ideas from every comedy ever.

I want my 80 minutes of life back, this movie tried so hard to be American Pie and pretty much every teen/sex/stoner comedy and ends up failing hard with a lot of unfunny, recycled/stolen jokes. Yes a guy shaves his pubes and suffers the consequences, just like in American Pie. Yes that's how awful it gets with blatantly trying to be other movies.

The characters were even worse, so blatantly ripped off and supposed to be teenagers but played by a bunch of 20-something year old nobodies who are still trying to get their careers started. There's the womanizing wild jock (gee sound familiar?) The innocent virgin guy waiting for the right one, the weird dad offering awkward sex advice to his son, the wild guy who wants to change for the right girl, the hot sex-crazed foreign exchange student, the stoner guy, etc etc. I think you already know where this is going.

I liked American Pie, 40 year old virgin, etc, I wasn't expecting a huge epic plot or anything, just to have a couple laughs, but I can't laugh at ripped off jokes and characters when it wasn't even a parody movie, and I can't even criticize it anymore because I've addressed pretty much everything and don't even think it deserves another paragraph. Don't even bother renting it.

"Foreign Exchange" (2008) is a high school comedy in the manner of 1999's "American Pie," but with a lower budget. I'm not a fan of "American Pie" or 2001's "Not Another Teen Movie" simply because they're too raunchy for my tastes; but that's just me. "Foreign Exchange" has quite a bit of raunch too and, in fact, begins with a scene of a teen masturbating in bed, but it's arguably not as bad as those other movies on this front.

While all these films exaggerate the teen years for comedic purposes, do they - generally speaking - reflect real life? The answer is yes, which is WHY they're funny. For instance, do many teen dudes masturbate in bed to a photo of a babe? Of course. Now, this isn't likely something you want to SEE, but the film's making light of those fun-but-awkward teen years. Furthermore, despite a brief scene of three girls flashing their breasts, the sleaze is all talk or, at best, implied. And isn't that also the way it is in high school, except for the neighborhood Fonz (i.e ultra-cool guy who gets all the babes)? Jay (Randy Wayne) fits this description in the film and, less so, Shantz (Daniel Booko). And then there's the hardaxx principal of the school. I had one of those - a former Marine who always rolled his short sleeves up to show off his muscles & Marine Corps Emblem tattoo - albeit in the movie it's a woman, Jennifer Coolidge, and she's genuinely funny. And then there's the stoner smart kid, Hashbrown (Miles Thompson) and quite a few pot-smoking scenes. Again, these things reflect the real-life high school years.

While "Foreign Exchange" is clearly low-budget it's also obvious that the filmmakers took care to create memorable characters with excellent casting. The film also does well on the female front with precious Vanessa Lengies as Robyn leading the way. I say "precious" because she's a hugely likable character that you care about, like Dave does (Ryan Pinkston), particularly as the story develops. Ashley Edner is also on hand as the beautiful Jez. Tania Raymonde as Anita, the Brazilian exchange student, is the main female protagonist, along with Robyn, but she's too thin to trip my trigger. I also like the way the shining Asian girl, Mia Ho (Jessika Van), ultimately finds companionship despite being made out to be discard-able. It's elements like this that reveal the movie's warmth below the raunchy garnish. The second half starts to mark time, however, so I can't give it a higher rating.

The film runs 85 minutes and was shot in Los Angeles.

GRADE: B-