n the near future, corporations have all the power and a privileged class of corporate stars stands at the top of the food chain. Xchange, a company that caters to the needs of the "Corpies," has created a technology that allows their clients to transfer the client's mind into someone else's body, giving them the ability to instantly travel long distances into a host body.
When the CEO of an important corporation is assassinated with a personalized seeker missile, executive Arthur Toffler (Coates) must Xchange with a host across the country to take care of the situation. He's never been a "floater" before, and he's skittish about the process. Toffler expertly handles the situation in his new body (played by MacLachlan) and ends up running into an old girlfriend named Madeleine Ranard (Pascale Bussieres), who has grave concerns about the Xchange technology.
The next day, ready to go "home," Toffler discovers that the person he exchanged bodies with is a dangerous man who has stolen his body. Toffler soon realizes that Xchange is more worried about bad publicity than getting his body back, and he's forced to transfer his mind into that of a clone (Baldwin) and go on the run. However, the clone only has two days before it and Toffler expire.
On the run from the police and Xchange, Toffler convinces Madeleine to help him. Together they go after the assassin who stole his body. But the assassin has taken a liking to Toffler's body and isn't quite ready to give it up.
So many bodies, so little time
Xchange has some entertaining moments, even if there are a few too many twists and turns to keep track of what's going on and who's playing whom without a scorecard. None of it quite adds up, but there is enough action and imagination in the story to hold attention.
For a movie with very few special effects to speak of, Xchange has created an interesting near future. Unfortunately, there are so many elements brought into the mix that the script has trouble keeping track of it all. Is mind swapping bad? Are corporations evil? What's the bad guy's problem with the Corpies? The film may work on an action level, but it doesn't end up making much sense.
The larger problem is that good guy Toffler is played by three actors. Since his story is what Xchange is all about, it's hard to settle down and feel sympathetic for him because there's no way to get attached to any one actor. Beyond that, his character does things that make no sense. For example, he runs away from the Xchange people because he doesn't want to be put into a clone's body and then mind swaps into a clone's body to escape.
Still, the characters of Toffler and Fisk are the kinds of roles an actor loves to play, because the actor gets to be both the good guy and the bad guy. Coates is especially good, Baldwin has his moments, and MacLachlan is wasted.
