If you’re looking for a movie that’s going to distract you just enough to forget you have to go to work tomorrow, you’ve just found it. Changing Lanes is a forgettable and mildly entertaining mainstream thriller starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. It’s one of those smarty thrillers of the early 2000s. You know the ones where you have this single and yet intriguing premise holding the entire weight of the movie. In this case, it’s a simple and mundane act of changing lanes setting off a devastating chain reaction. A road rage incident taken to whole another level.
You are supposed to go: like wow, I change lanes every day as well, this can happen to me! So, what happens is two angry men get into a car accident that will change their lives forever. Don’t worry, both the slick lawyer Gavin and down-on-his-luck single father Doyle are physically okay. It’s just that the next 24 hours of their lives are going to turn into a rage and revenge-fueled nightmare. Well, that might be a slight exaggeration as there’s little action in this movie. Changing Lanes is more of a psychological thriller and an interesting character study. Meaning that the pacing is quite slow.
With that out of the way, I also want to say that this movie is not just about these two guys and their car accident. We will touch upon a couple of different subjects including but not limited to alcoholism, greedy lawyers, and, ultimately, morality itself. During all of this, you’ll be able to put yourself in our character’s shoes and think about what you would do. Would you close a blind eye to something immoral if you would get a lot of money? Would you still be with someone if you knew what kind of person they really are? For most of us, the choices are pretty clear. However, I wonder if this is something that would happen in real life.
I’m sure all of us have had “one of those days”. And since these are the early 2000s who better than Mr. Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit himself to explain to us what it feels to have one of those days:
One of those days where when you don’t wanna wake up
Limp Bizkit – Break Stuff
Everything is fucked, everybody sucks
You don’t really know why, but you wanna justify
Rippin’ someone’s head off
No human contact, and if you interact
Your life is on contract
Your best bet is to stay away, motherfucker!
It’s just one of those days
Changing Lanes also offers a rather unpredictable story full of twists. Twists and a couple of uncomfortable scenes. The ending, on the other hand, feels a bit contrived and corny. Especially if you consider the sheer amount of shit that happened before it. New York City is a perfect setting for this type of story. And director Roger Michell knew how to present it to us.
It feels really cold and soulless with these huge skyscrapers and people mindlessly rushing everywhere. I know I sound a bit like a country boy but that’s just the vibe I got from the movie.For example, Mann did the same thing with Los Angeles in Collateral. He even mentions an incident where someone rides a subway for an entire day without any of the other passengers realizing he’s dead. Of course, this is just a snapshot and one side of any city.
You move to certain parts of it and the picture changes completely. Changing Lanes features a surprisingly awesome cast. Well, apart from Ben Affleck, whom I don’t particularly like for whatever reason. However, I have to admit he was good here as the slick lawyer losing his grip on reality. Samuel L. Jackson, on the other hand, was absolutely phenomenal, giving another great performance.
The supporting cast consists of such A-listers as Tony Collette, William Hurt, and Richard Jenkins. And I’ll take my Amanda Peet dose wherever I can get it. Too bad she didn’t get more screen time in this one. I’ll just say that we have three Oscar winners and three nominees and leave at that. Ultimately, Changing Lanes is a movie that will be worth watching for most of us with some feeling it hit a bit closer to home. I suggest you give it a chance.
Director: Roger Michell
Writers: Chap Taylor, Michael Tolkin
Cast: Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Kim Staunton, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, William Hurt
Fun Facts: Very young Bradley Cooper appears in the scene that was cut from the theatrical release but is available on Blu-ray. He plays one of the lawyer interns.
Rating:
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264472/
