Changing Lanes

Starring: Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Amanda Peet, Toni Collette, Sydney Pollack
Directed by: Roger Michell
Rating: R
Genre: Thriller, Drama
Box Office: $66,818,548
2002

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After a lawyer (Ben Affleck) gets into a car accident with an insurance salesman, both men's lives are ruined- the lawyer loses an important document and the salesman misses a court appointment and thus, his ex-wife gets custody of the kids. The salesman finds the lawyer's document and the two engage in a series of attacks to ruin each others' lives even further.

Review:

Tim: This is a pretty ridiculous movie about two guys that get into a pissing contest and ruin each others' lives. This is ridiculous because had either one of them had even half a brain, the whole ordeal could have been avoided.

Ben Affleck makes yet another bomb, bringing down the rest of the film with him. I remember when he was an up-and-coming star, not a Hollywood joke. To be fair, this time it is not completely his fault- the whole movie is so absurd, boring, and not entertaining. He doesn't help anything, but with or without him, this movie would have been no good.

Samuel L. Jackson is not too much better in his role. Jackson used to be a pretty reliable guy, but lately it seems like he is taking every role that comes at him. Picking and choosing the best scripts is a talent few have nowadays.

The worst part of this movie is the lame attempt to discover the good and noble qualities that these two men have. For most of the movie we watch as they foolish show their selfish, angry, hate-filled side. Then, in a matter of moments, we are supposed to believe that they are deep down really good human beings. It doesn't float and I don't buy it.

Changing Lanes is simply not a very good thriller. Jackson and Affleck seem to be just going through the motions here. They are uninspired and careless about the quality of the film they are making. That is the impression I get from this entire production. If I ever came across this film on television, a more proper title would be "Changing Channels." That is exactly what I recommend you do.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Basic, Taxi, Twisted, Daredevil, Reindeer Games, Notting Hill