Free exchange: a hilarious comedy and sagacious (critic)
The director of the irresistible The Climb examines the modern couple in a film whose success owes as much to his sense of rhythm as to his burlesque exploits
Spotted in Cannes in 2019 with its more than recommendable The Climb (about twelve entries in France, thank you for catching him Fissa!), Michael Angelo Covino returned this year in front and behind the camera with free exchange. A comedy of remarriage with Italian and French inspirations where Carey (Kyle Marvin), a quadra at the bottom of the hole after his wife’s divorce request, takes refuge with his friends Julie and Paul (Dakota Johnson and Covino). They admit that if their apparently idyllic marriage holds the distance, it is because they are in free couple. One evening, Carey and Julie, the helpful alcohol, find themselves in each other’s arms…
The director affirms his taste for dysfunctional male friendship, the scenes that derail and the physical comedy choreographed to the millimeter – the endless fight in the house is a small masterpiece of Slapstick. The film also holds thanks to its delicate balance between the absurd (the lovers of the ex-wife of Carey parade and then embed ad vitam under their roof) and melancholy (via a crisis of quarantine xxl). A slight Farrellian spirit also floats on free exchange, boosted by the presence of the decidedly formidable Adria Arjona (Hit Man, Blink Twice) and Dakota Johnson, who here delivers unsuspected comic capacities. We will therefore gladly close our eyes on a small soft belly with two thirds to better greet Covino’s plume and his fierce vision of the modern couple. The American comedy is not dead.
Of Michael Angelo Covino with Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin … Duration 1 h 44. Released September 10, 2025
