In the new film Changing Lanes, Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson star as two poster children for road rage, intent on turning what could be a perfectly good day into a living hell.
Director Roger Michell drops his comedic background to bring us this look at not only traffic rules and regulations but also the anger that each one of us possesses and can act upon at any time.
Changing Lanes costars Sydney Pollack, William Hurt and Amanda Peet.
Changing Lanes centers on two characters from distinct backgrounds with different agendas for life. Gavin Banek (Affleck) is a hot young arrogant lawyer with a fancy car and pretty wife. The only thing on Gavin’s mind is appearing in court and delivering a set of papers. Failure to deliver these papers could end up ruining Gavin’s life.
Doyle Gibson (Jackson), on the other hand, is a recovering alcoholic who works hard as an insurance agent and wants to put his family and life back together.
But fate has it out for Doyle, and all the king’s horses and all the king’s men won’t be able to put Doyle’s life together just yet. Gavin and Doyle meet one morning on the highway when their cars collide. Gavin is running late for court and yells “better luck next time.”
Doyle also needs to appear in court to save his family before his ex-wife moves them across country. Doyle’s car is undriveable, and he appears in court too late.
Gavin doesn’t have better luck because he seems to have left an important file at the scene of the accident, which Doyle picks up. Doyle wants his time back while Gavin wants his file.
The best part of this sequence is that the audience is never shown who is at fault.
If Michell showed who was at fault then the audience instantly would have sided with that person, ruining the rest of the film.
The two men are pitted against each other in a struggle for survival. But this is not like Falling Down. The previews make it look like the two men just want to kill each other, and partially that is true.
Gavin and Doyle hate each other and blame the failure of their day and, ultimately, their lives on the other person.
But then the movie makes a big crossover pass the double white lines and into a new direction.
Each man learns what makes and breaks him through this battle. They learn that it is never too late to change the direction in which your life is headed.
Affleck and Jackson competently portray their characters, ensuring that they stay true to the story. Michell upgrades his directing with Changing Lanes, putting the horrible Notting Hill behind him. Michell also keeps the story reeling by never making one character more just than the other. Both men are guilty and neither one of them should receive an award for Good Samaritan.
Changing Lanes is a thought-provoking film that teeter-totters closely on pounding out too much of a message. Luckily, though, the film does not cross that line, keeping it enjoyable.
The ultimate message of the film comes down to: Drive carefully, avoid confrontation and take responsibility for what you do. Grade: B-
