Changing Lanes (2002)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Roger Michell

Writers (WGA):

Chap Taylor (story)
Chap Taylor (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

12 April 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

An ambitious lawyer, a desperate father, they had no reason to meet, until today,

Plot:

The story of what happens one day in New York when a young lawyer and a businessman share a small automobile accident on F.D.R. Drive and their mutual road rage escalates into a feud.

Plot Keywords:

Feud | Lawyer | Road Rage | Judge | Insurance Agent

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Ben Affleck	...	Gavin Banek
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Doyle Gipson
Kim Staunton	...	Valerie Gipson
Toni Collette	...	Michelle
Sydney Pollack	...	Stephen Delano
Tina Sloan	...	Mrs. Delano
Richard Jenkins	...	Walter Arnell
Akil Walker	...	Stephen Gipson
Cole Hawkins	...	Danny Gipson
Ileen Getz	...	Ellen
Jennifer Dundas	...	Mina Dunne (as Jennifer Dundas Lowe)
Matt Malloy	...	Ron Cabot
Amanda Peet	...	Cynthia Delano Banek
Myra Lucretia Taylor	...	Judge Frances Abarbanel
Bruce Altman	...	Terry Kaufman

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

98 min | Turkey:91 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Austria:10 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #38938) | Canada:AA (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Bergen County Court House - 10 Main Street, Hackensack, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Roger Michell actually attended Alcoholic's Anonymous meetings in order to get the idea of how Doyle Gipson's (Samuel L. Jackson) A.A. meetings would play out on screen.

Goofs:

Factual errors: On Good Friday in New York City all public schools are closed. None of the plot dealing with the two school children is possible on this date.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Doyle Gipson: Think I'll make this the boys' room.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in New Frontiers: Making 'The Missing' (2004) (V)

At least Ben Affleck's performance was pretty good

With the way films are marketed you would be forgiven for thinking that great casting and an arresting idea are all you need to make a good film. One only has to witness how Martin Scorsese's name was hidden on all the publicity for Gangs Of New York , his pet project for the last twenty years, to understand the strength of this theory. Unfortunately for lazy minded marketers everywhere Changing Lanes shows what any cinemagoer could tell you, that the quality of a film is all in it's execution.

Ben Affleck and Samuel L Jackson are both in a hurry when they collide on a downtown freeway. Affleck takes off before exchanging details but without a crucial file for the case he is trying, whilst Jackson misses the custody battle for his children. This then leads to an ugly game of tit for tat revenge between the two, as they both sink lower and lower to salvage something from the day.

Despite the entire story taking place over a handful of hours the film has no tension, pace of immediacy, though this is a probably a side effect of the apathy that the lead characters provoke. Whilst Affleck and Jackson are perfectly cast as the lawyer losing sight of his morals and a desperate recovering alcoholic who seems to be fighting the whole world at once, the film never brings either to life. This is doubly galling since a good performance from Affleck seems to come once in a blue moon and so it is especially painful to see it go to waste.

By the time the fudged ending ruins what respect the film may have gained for it's gritty style you will be too sick of the shaky handheld camera work and improbable character decisions to care. Best to changed channels if you ever come across this on TV.