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Changing Lanes
(2002)
Starring:
Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck
Director: Roger Michell
Rating:
R
Studio:
Paramount
Review
Posted: 4.10.01
Spoilers:
Minor
Rating:
3/10
By
Dennis Landmann
It
is hard and very sad to watch Samuel L. Jackson in a bad movie,
especially since this is his first one. Written by Chap Taylor
(a production assistant on three movies), Changing Lanes
is a disappointment on many levels. Previews advertise the film
as a semi-serious "road rage" drama and what crazy
things can happen to two people after a car accident. These
previews fail to capture the reality of the film, which suffers
mostly from a script that is troubled and uninteresting.
The
plot, I think, is best described if Sam Jackson does the
talking. Here's what he said on Jay Leno (4.9.02), "It's
actually about these two guys [Gavin Banek and Doyle Gibson] who
have a fender-bender and during the course of the day, because
one guy feels he has lost something because of what the other
guy has done to him. He holds a particular item hostage so he
can get it back. One guy does something to the other and another
guy does something to the other, and before you knew it there is
a lot of chaos, but they both end up growing a bit toward the
end of the day."
The
plot is basically that, but Jackson left out the most critical
piece of information of all. The film takes place in one single
day, which is completely impossible considering everything that
happens. Both characters are not of much interest, even though
it is kind of heart-breaking to watch Doyle Gibson's struggle to
comfort his family and get his life back in order. Gavin Banek
treats Gibson like scum through the film, but acts surprised
when he receives the shit from underneath Gibson's shoes at one
point during the film.
Changing
Lanes depends on its characters, but they are all fabricated
clichés of what is good and evil. Furthermore, the file Gibson
has in his possession is the second thing the film depends on. It unwillingly becomes the latter for frustration and chaos
between the two characters. The problem is, who wants to see a
movie about a fucking file? The film attempts
to make the audience care, but fails miserably.
Roger
Michell, whose Notting Hill was quite a hit, did the best
he could with the material. Samuel L. Jackson played his
character with some dignity, but he was deeply undermined by Ben
Affleck's trite and arrogant Gavin Banek. Most of their dialogue
was based on hate and forgiveness, yet none of it paid off. This
is partially due to Taylor's script, which also focused on too
many locations and character interactions in New York. When I
thought the most painful aspect to criticize is the day
in which the entire film is set, the ending pretty much takes the prize.
It's interesting to know the characters can all go home happy,
yet the audience cannot.
In
a nutshell, Changing Lanes is an unengaging film full of
tired sequences and unbelievable coincidences. Moreover,
when Jay Leno proclaims "it's one of the smartest pictures
[he has] seen this year," you know something cannot be
right. Changing Lanes probably looked interesting on the
page, but as a film it does not.
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