Changing Lanes (2002)

Hooked on Disaster

I was surprised by how good this movie turned out to be. I wrote it off when it came out years ago as something I might watch one day, but nothing that would be special.

The truth is, it's an excellent movie. The script is taut and well written, and the performances are solid. Like so many similar films, the entire plot takes place in one day. But unlike many of those films, we actually get a complete picture of every single character's life just from this brief, less than 12-hour glimpse.

Sam Jackson plays Doyle Gipson, a recovering alcoholic desperate to keep his children from being moved to Chicago by their angry mother. Ben Affleck is Gavin Banek, a lawyer who has no idea how slimy a person he's allowed himself to become. Just because of a single car accident, these two men cross paths and continue to cross each other throughout the film, due to bad timing, a series of missed chances and moral wrong turns and a hell of a lot of bad choices on both their parts.

Toni Collette, the late great Sydney Pollack, Dylan Baker and Amanda Peet are just a few of the supporting players who shine in this film, despite their relative lack of screen time. Best of all is Kim Staunton as Sam Jackson's soon-to-be ex-wife, who brings a completely believable amount of pain and passion to the screen each time she's on it. All of them are well served by Chap Taylor's fantastic screenplay. It's amazing that a writer this great hasn't done any movies since. It just goes to show that in Hollywood, it's not talent that counts, it's the almighy dollar. If this movie had been a bigger hit, he'd be a household name by now.

Depsite their success and fame, I believe that Sam Jackson and Ben Affleck are both underrated as actors. It's their own fault, really. Both of them have starred in a number of terrible movies, presumably just for the payday. And those bad choices mean that people (myself included) are more likely to skip their movies, and therefore miss gems like this in the process. I don't believe this one was for the payday. I think they both must have seen something special here, and it's a shame that more people haven't seen the same thing. I hope others realize their mistake as I have, and give this deserving movie another chance.

(I watched this film online and therefore cannot comment on the DVD extras. My apologies.) December 21, 2008

A life for a file!

This smart anagram resumes this dramatis personae between two strangers who will be implied in what it seemed to be an unpleasant encounter in the m the middle of a vial artery in Manhattan.

Two citizens, one of them is a desperate man, who must assist a very important legal question, the other is an unworried and prestigious lawyer. At the moment of the collision there will be more than a simple exchange of words. An important legal document will change of hands and the man will lose his accorded legal date. Since this episode, both men will be faced, one for getting that invaluable document and the other claiming by his sudden bankrupt.

High tension in this particular and engaging film who will involve the viewer from start to finish.
September 22, 2008

Definitely worth a look.

Film about the recriminations that take place between an insurance salesman (played by Samuel L. Jackson) and a high-flying attorney (played by Ben Affleck) following a car accident involving the two of them that manages to royally screw up both of their lives. A good study of the consequences of selfishness and the folly of unchecked anger. Definitely worth a look. July 13, 2008

Changing Lanes

I've seen this movie several times and just had to own the DVD. It's one of my favorites, and watching it again did not disappoint. May 23, 2008

Thought provoking movie

While everything happening in one day in this movie seems unrealistic to me, facing life, and oneself, is portrayed in a very insightful manner in this movie. As for the ending, each person gets to continue however they want. I like unclear endings that the viewer gets to complete. April 22, 2008

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