Changing Lanes
Grade: A-
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck, Sydney Pollock, Toni Collette, Kim Stauton, William Hurt, Amanda Peet
Director: Roger Michell
Rated R for language and mild violence

Good ol' movie marketing. The trailer for "Changing Lanes" makes it look like a really bad film. You don't know how the protagonist is, you don't know who the antagonist is. It really makes you wonder, who is the good guy? Oh yeah, they also make it look like a big action film with blowing up cars and William Hurt talking unintelligably about some covenent. Did they ever take that speech out of context. Did they ever take the entire film out of context.

But it's probably hard to market a thoughtful film about morals to the public of America. I really can't even think of a way to make it seem interesting. Good thing, then, that director Roger Michell ("Notting Hill") really knows how to, and as you watch it, you realize that there is no good guy or bad guy, but just two troubled men at the core of this film.

Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck) seems to be on top of the world. He's just been made partner at his father-in-law's law firm and is about to close a huge case that will earn his firm a lot of money. Everything is going just great, he's got the Power of Appointment that he needs to seal the court deal, but on the way down to the courthouse he gets in a fender bender with Doyle Gipson (Samuel L. Jackson), who is also on his way to the courthouse, but for a different reason...

Doyle's wife (Kim Stauton) has divorced him and is about to move their two kids all the way to Oregon because of a job. Doyle, a loving father and hard working man given to alcohol and bits of violence, is fighting for custody, but is set back when he gets into this traffic accident. He asks Gavin for his insurance card but Gavin refuses and hands him a blank check. Doyle doesn't want the check and asks for a ride (not knowing that they're going in the same direction), but Gavin speeds of in his sports car yelling "Better luck next time!"

He leaves the scene in such a hurry that he doesn't realize he's left the all important Power of Appointment in the hands of Doyle, and since Gavin wouldn't follow the rules, Doyle won't give it back. And so starts a twisty, ruthless game of cat and mouse that explores the morals and dilemas of two ordinary men in an extreme situation that brings about the worst in each.

One of "Changing Lanes"' greatest assets is the direct, Roger Michell, who after directing the Julia Roberts-Hugh Grant love fest "Notting Hill" wouldn't seem like the right man for the job, but instead of upping the action ante he takes a more personal look at these two men and the inner conflicts facing them. We see the turmoil in Gavin as he ponders whether to try to get the actual Power of Appointment back by turning off Doyle's credit or whether he should just forge one like his employers advise him.

Both of these roads lead to danger, but if he gets the credit turned off then he has a better chance of getting the actual file back and not having to lie in court, but if he just lied and gave the court the forged one, he wouldn't have to ruin another man's life and possibly his only way of getting his kids back.

It's surprising that a studio-made mainstream film deals with issues such as morality in such a manner. There is nary any action, all of the suspense comes from seeing which road each man will take: the one that will make them honorable, or the one that will get them what they want. Unfortunately for them (but fortunately for us) they choose the wrong roads and get themselves into a world of trouble.

"Changing Lanes" boasts some good acting. Affleck recalls a little bit of his character from "Boiler Room," but not enough. He acts with an intesity we've never seen from him, but he's surrounded by so many vetern actors that it's hard not to see him as the sore thumb. Jackson is one of the best actors working right now, bar none. His work here is excellent as he makes us feel his paternal pain and stress. A trying-to-reform alcoholic, we actual feel a tinge of danger as he enters a bar and orders a drink.

The supporting cast is impressive. Toni Collette (that wonderful chameleon from Australia) makes a lot out of a crummy role, but she is integral to the last half of the film. Kim Stauton, as Jackson's wife, is credible and her agony is perceptible through her eyes. Dylan Baker makes a creepy impression as a computer hacker that Affleck employs to cut off Jackson's credit. William Hurt has a brief, but good role as Jackson's AA advisor. The biggest impression made is by Amanda Peet who is only in two scenes. Given the right role and script, this girl can do wonders. Here, she does. Sydney Pollock is correctly slimy as Gavin's ethic-dodging boss and father-in-law.

"Changing Lanes" is a more complex and character-driven film than we're used to seeing at the multiplex. Bravo to the writers, director, producers, and most of all, the studio execs who greenlit this one. The best release of the new year so far.


--Brian Jones, 2002