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'Lanes' gives ethics a fighting chance
Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck in 'Changing Lanes'
Paramount Pictures
Doing the right thing for its own sake is not a sentiment that sells — not unless it's couched in a story that allows the medicine to pass the tonsils undetected.
And yet here is "Changing Lanes" going into wide release, which has less to do with an unusually good screenplay by Chap Taylor and Michael Tolkin than with marketable stars Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson, who, to their credit, enlisted.
It's a film driven by character, or the lack thereof, and the sense that something is lost without it.
It begins with selfishness and rudeness.
But for all of the zooming around New York City, the key activity throughout is phone communication, especially by cell phone. The calls made and received work like steroids. The film demonstrates how they generate a pace in communication and interaction that ruptures civility.
Like "The Long Good Friday," "Changing Lanes" unfolds on Good Friday and includes a detour into a Catholic Church during Stations of the Cross, a metaphor for what the characters are putting each other through.
The screenplay draws parallel tracks that intersect regularly (sometimes too serendipitously) until they're like entwined snakes.
The first collision is literal. It's on Manhattan's FDR Drive, which is always good for a white-knuckle ride.
Wall Street attorney Gavin Banek (Affleck) is racing to a court hearing for a probate case involving a $100 million charitable foundation that his bosses, including father-in-law Delano (Sydney Pollack), are defrauding.
Doyle Gipson (Jackson), a struggling, sober alcoholic, divorced insurance salesman, is heading for a different court. He's hoping that with that morning's arrangements to buy a modest house in Queens, he can persuade a judge to dissuade ex-wife Valerie (movingly played by Kim Staunton) to call off her imminent move to Portland, Ore., with their two sons.
When the cars driven by the leading characters smack sides in the rain, Doyle wants to exchange information, to do what's "right." But Gavin imposes a blank check and abandons the accident and the stranded Doyle with a crass "Better luck next time."
Gavin inadvertently leaves behind the orange-covered brief he needs for court, which balances the stakes. When both men are damagingly late and ill-equipped for their court appearances, recriminations begin, escalate and veer out of control.
Each is hampered by character flaws — Gavin's compulsive deceitfulness and arrogance and Doyle's irrational temper.
"Changing Lanes" underscores the tendency to rationalize that whatever we do, we do more good than harm. And to underestimate courtesy, honesty and reason.
The movie tends to be glib. It's designed more for Saturday-night multiplex consumption than subtle reflection. But it's paced by director Roger Michell and enlivened by crosscutting to give it a maximum shot of reaching a wide audience.
The hardy ensemble includes Amanda Peet as Gavin's wife, Toni Collette as his supportive co-worker-lover, Jennifer Dundas Lowe as his courtroom opponent, Dylan Baker as a dangerous hacker and William Hurt an AA sponsor.
| 'Changing Lanes' |
Director: Roger Michell
Stars: Samuel J. Jackson, Ben Affleck, Toni Collette
MPAA Rating: R, for language
