***1/2 (out of ****)
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck, Sydney Pollack, Toni Collette, William Hurt, Kim Staunton, and Amanda Peet
Directed by Roger Michell & written by Chap Taylor and Matt Tolkin
2002 R
Dozen-or-So Best Films of 2002
Despite its gritty, urban look, it must be understood that “Changing Lanes” is a fable. More happens to these two men in one day than to most of us in a year and the movie is filled with coincidences. Every aspect of their lives, from their darkest impulses and secrets, to all that is good in their souls, is brought into the light. At one point Ben Affleck is even walking in front of a church at just the right moment when his soul feels tormented.
Implausible? Well, of course, but so is all fiction, written or filmed. I’m a sucker for moral quandaries, and “Changing Lanes,” as Ned Flanders would say, gives us a dilly of a pickle. We all know from the previews that two strangers (Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson) get into a fender-bender in New York. Affleck, an uppity young lawyer, is in too much of a hurry to get to court to handle the situation properly. He leaves Jackson on the side of the road. No ride, no insurance information, just the words “better luck next time.”
But the hand of God is at times swifter than at others, and in court Affleck realizes he dropped a crucial file at the scene of the accident. Getting it back from Jackson proves harder than just asking nicely; Jackson, who is late in arriving to the same courthouse, has missed his appointment concerning the custody of his children, and he’s in no mood to be merciful with the man who caused him to be late. It’s not long before Affleck and Jackson are ensconced in a day-long battle of wills and cunning that lands one in jail and almost kills the other.
This could be the set-up for a decent thriller, in which nice guy Affleck spends the day paying for his one act of moral turpitude by having to cross swords with a degenerate sleazebag whose wallet has the words “bad mother” written on it. “Changing Lanes” takes a different approach by putting these two men under the microscope. Neither of them is a saint, but they are basically good guys pushed too far (it’s crucial that their first dialogue upon climbing out of their collided vehicles is “Are you okay?” “Yeah, and you?”). Jackson works at an insurance company and is struggling to keep his wife from taking their sons to Oregon. He is a recovering alcoholic but, in the course of “Changing Lanes,” we realize it is the sense of the world against him that sets him off more than anything else. He yells much earlier than a wiser man might, which only leads more swiftly to pleading. Jackson, one of the best actors at work today, paints a picture of a worn-down man who doesn’t know how else to live besides being worn down and frayed. He will say and do whatever at that particular moment makes his family the happiest, even if he can’t ultimately come through on his promises; there’s a heartbreaking sweetness to how he delivers the line “boys need a father.” As someone who’s always running late, dropping things, forgetting appointments, and then spewing obscenities as a result, I found Jackson’s half of the film to be especially satisfying.
Affleck, who is so adrift in empty adventures like “Armageddon” and “Pearl Harbor,” is right at home in morally conflicted characters. The lost file proves not to be a McGuffin, but the key to a shady plot within his law firm to possibly rob a charitable foundation. As the son-in-law of one of the head lawyers (Sydney Pollack), Affleck stands to become a partner if the file can be found. His wife (Amanda Peet) has only two scenes, one in which she confesses she’s willing to make moral compromises if it means she can continue living the lifestyle her father has always provided for her. Affleck spends most of the film trying to answer that same question for himself.