Was 1985 really 30 years ago (and possibly even longer ago depending on when you're reading this)? How time flies- that was the year I finally convinced my parents to buy a VCR after pestering them for one ever since they first came out and thus opening up the world of movies one could see with it. Movies like Key Exchange seemed tailor-made for home video and cable movie channels, which were firmly entrenched by 1985- while this had a token theatrical run it didn't seem to set the world on fire like the bigger releases that year, and 20th Century Fox even issued the VHS tape on their Key Video "sub-label" (and this DVD uses the exact same text summary from its back cover) suggesting that this was a rather minor film. The 70s were practically forgotten with disco being deader than dead, giving way to the era of yuppies, bright colors and less-tacky fashions. Cell phones and the internet were still a while off, but Walkman cassette players were all the rage (with everyone wearing the headphones around their neck when they weren't listening to them) so that seemed to be enough.

Based on a 1981 play by Kevin Wade, Key Exchange's main character is Philip (Ben Masters), a mystery-novel writer in New York who is also an avid bike rider (yet also a smoker, though that doesn't seem to slow him down). He's been seeing Lisa (Brooke Adams) for a few months, but is happy to still be able to hop into bed with anyone else who comes along- though she's free to do the same (and makes up times when she has), she's ready for a real commitment- the first step of that leading to the movie's title, where she gives him a key to her apartment and he gives her one for his so they can drop in on each other at any time before eventually moving in together.

At a bike race in Central Park, Philip meets Michael (Daniel Stern, looking much like he did in Breaking Away and a far cry from his later "scruffy" look), who just got married yesterday to professional dancer April who is already out working- they agreed to delay the honeymoon to a less-busy time. They instantly become best buds and spend a lot of time discussing the pros and cons of being committed- Michael brings up the practicality of seeing just one type of panties for the rest of your life once you're married, the most profound concept brought up in this movie. It soon turns out that his wife is less committed than he is as she soon runs off with a dance partner, leaving Michael to question his ideals and giving Philip even more reason not to change his ways despite Lisa's urging.

That's the basic plot of Key Exchange, with the bulk of the movie made up of the characters dealing with the issue of commitment- and one's enjoyment of the movie will depend on how they feel about the characters (I don't know if I would have cared much about any of them in the 80s, but it was fun to see them now as stereotypes from the era). Philip finds plenty of temptation anywhere he goes, and even Lisa isn't quite sure whether to pursue the advances of her boss David (Tony Roberts) given the chance. A funny sub-plot deals with Philip spending time with Detective Carabello (Danny Aiello, whose son Danny Aiello III performs a few stunts in the movie) who is paid to spy on cheating spouses. He also works another essential 80s element into the movie as he decides to go work out at a health club on the spur of the moment, leaving Philip to take over his duties for a bit and leading to an awkward situation.

This DVD-R release from Fox Cinema Archives uses a new 16x9 transfer in the proper 1.85 ratio, and looks adequate for the most part although I noticed some compression artifacts during dark scenes, and reduced detail from the limitations of the standard-def DVD format.

Key Exchange wasn't deemed worthy of a Dolby Stereo mix upon its 1985 release, so the resulting mono track is presented here in 2-channel Dolby Digital. Sound is reasonably clean but not quite up to par with the quality of better-sounding movies of this era.

The theatrical trailer is included, but it's a 4x3 transfer improperly flagged as 16x9 on the disc, resulting in a stretched picture.

It's quite surreal to watch an 80s movie and see just how dated it is now. Key Exchange serves as an amusing trip back to that era with plenty of chances to laugh at the styles, colors and attitudes of the time (although the music avoids many licensed tracks, instead relying on cheesier music written for the film by Mason Daring.) If you've watched St. Elmo's Fire and the like too many times, you might want to give this a shot in their place at least once. (Incidentally, did you know that the procedure your DVD player goes through when loading up a CSS-protected disc is called a key exchange? Just thought I'd throw that out there.)

Jesse Skeen is a life-long obsessive media collector (with an unhealthy preoccupation with obsolete and failed formats) and former theater film projectionist. He enjoys watching movies and strives for presenting them perfectly, but lacks the talent to make his own.