DVD REVIEW

Changing Lanes

Starring: Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson
Director: Roger Michell

Rating: R

Review Posted: 10.14.02

By John Teves

An attorney Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck) in a rush to make a court appointment to file legal papers involving a multi-million dollar trust accidentally collides with an alcoholic insurance salesman Doyle Gipson (Samuel Jackson), who also is a rush for a court appointment involving the custody of his children. The attorney leaves the scene of the accident and strands the salesman, causing him to miss his custody hearing.

During the process of the post-crash discussion, the attorney accidentally drops the papers he needs to present in court. The judge gives him until the end of the day to present the papers and thus begins a cat and mouse game between Banek and Gibson. A few questionable actions later on both parties' part, they finally start questioning their actions and their lives. In the end, both men come to new understanding of what is important and appears to be set in a new ethical and moral direction.

CHANGING LANES delivers like an average standard film with carefully thought-provoking moments that build up to a climatic ending. The twists and turns are not plausible, common or conceivable but seem only there to shove the plot along. This film contains a shallow story with unsophisticated characters that is mildly entertaining.

CHANGING LANES appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this single-sided, dual-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. The film transfer generally looked good. Sharpness was solid. Some shots came across fuzzy at times, but not enough to merit any major concern. I didn’t notice any  jagged edges, but I did notice some edge enhancement at times. Apart from the grit and light speckles the film looked good. Colors were eye-catching coming across accurate and intense. Black levels were deep and dense; shadow detail was heavy but not excessively thick. I thought CHANGING LANES offered a decent film presentation.

CHANGING LANES is presented in a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack mix. The 5.1 mix was not very impressive. For most the sound field focused on its center channels; a few scenes used the surrounds, but the lack of general reinforcement seemed a weedy. Audio quality was fine. Speech was natural and clear-cut, with no problems. Bass response seemed tight and lacked any earsplitting character. Overall, I felt CHANGING LANES could have been a little more involving, but still it seemed appropriate for this type of film.

-Commentary by Director Roger Michell
-The Making Of Changing Lanes
-A Writer's Perspective Featurette
-2 Deleted Scenes
-1 Extended Scene
-Theatrical Trailer

I thought CHANGING LANES offered a decent picture and fine sound as well as a polite roster of extras, but the acting between Jackson and Affleck fell short after awhile. CHANGING LANES wasn’t anything remarkable; fans of Ben Affleck are sure to enjoy this film and should give it a look for everyone else, take the next exit.