CHANGING LANES

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN     April 12, 2002

The further CHANGING LANES goes into its running time, the more it becomes clear that this isn't the kind of thriller that comes along every day, especially from the major studios. The set-up seems familiar in its broad strokes absolute jerk encounters hard-luck good guy, jerk torments good guy until good guy gets fed up and starts taking steps to even the odds. Well, yes, but CHANGING LANES differs from its peers here by observing that eye-for-an-eye tactics are usually excessive and have a nasty tendency to cause as much harm to the practitioner as the intended victim.

Lawyer Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck) and insurance worker Doyle Gipson (Samuel L. Jackson) get into a minor collision while driving the expressway into Manhattan. Both men are at fault Gavin is on his cell phone, working out details of a legal scheme that sounds iffy as soon as we hear about it, while Doyle is looking over the written-out speech he wants to make at his custody hearing for his two sons. When the two cars tangle, recovering alcoholic Doyle wants to do everything by the book, but the rushing Gavin can't be bothered and drives off, stranding Doyle, who is late for his hearing, with predictably sad results. Unfortunately for Gavin, his haste means that he leaves a crucial legal file in Doyle's hands. Gavin needs the papers back; Doyle, smarting from Gavin's treatment and emotionally devastated by the outcome, wants to make the other man sweat. Gavin decides to try to force Doyle to turn over the file and events escalate from there.

What's interesting and appealing about the screenplay by Chap Taylor and Michael Tolkin, from Taylor's story, is that it not only keeps us guessing as to what move which man will make next but also subverts our movie-conditioned ideas of what should happen. (There's a bit of irony in the ad campaign, as the sentiment in the poster tag line is antithetical to the premise.) CHANGING LANES has the kind of moral ambiguity and regret for missteps that are more common in films about, say, Bosnia than straightforward-looking dramas set in Manhattan with big-league stars. It invites conversation, even debate in its wake.



CHANGING LANES is in fact the kind of film that director Sidney Lumet used to make fairly regularly. Unfortunately, along with old-fashioned fascination with ethical questions (is revenge ever justified, and if so, when?), the film has a retro heavy-handedness that grows increasingly stronger as it goes along. Director Roger Michell keeps the pace lively, but he doesn't pull off the trick of making loaded scenes look naturalistic. When Gavin meets with his to-the-point wife (Amanda Peet), she's direct to the point of being unintentionally funny.

Fortunately, CHANGING LANES stars Samuel L. Jackson, one of the most compelling actors working today, fluidly progressing from genuine warmth and even a sense of innocence to terrifying rage without losing us. Affleck does a fine job of showing us Gavin's hearty bluster, the slime under the surface and the confusion underlying both. William Hurt stands out in a small role as Doyle's AA sponsor, who gets a line about the social contract that is perhaps overly to the point but still pretty wonderful.

CHANGING LANES is a little too earnest and a little too pleased with its own journey we get a sense of self-consciousness about the way it raises issues. Then again, it deals entertainingly with questions about the nature of conflict that aren't often voiced in mainstream cinema, illustrated by a pair of dynamic performances. All things considered, it's worth a look.