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Overall Rating
  Awesome: 8.33%
Worth A Look: 53.13%
Just Average: 25%
Pretty Crappy: 11.46%
Sucks: 2.08%
6 reviews, 60 user ratings
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Changing Lanes |
by Bishop
"Affleck and Jackson's Souped Up Prank War...With a Message"

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Changing Lanes is a commentary on just how busy, impersonable and rude our society has become, and how we should remedy such malady.A young attorney (Gavin Banning) played by Ben Affleck is scheduled to appear in court to deliver some important files for a case his firm is handling. When he side-swipes a recovering alcoholic and father of two, Doyle Gibson (played brilliantly by Samuel L. Jackson), the trouble begins.
The two start off cordially enough, with Gavin offering to give Doyle a blank check to cover the damages to his car. Doyle, however, wants to do things right, suiting his new lifestyle. Gavin is so busy however, he refuses to give Doyle a lift (Doyle is also headed to court himslef), saying, "Better luck next time." As a result, Doyle misses his court appointment and is denied joint custody of his two sons.
In the ensuing tussle following the accident, Gavin accidentally drops one of his important files, which is recovered by Doyle who almost throws it away. When Gavin asks him about it, Doyle recovers it to keep as a measure of leverage and revenge. He wants to know if Affleck can give him back the time he missed out on. Affleck then becomes very apprehensive, and takes less than legal measures to get the file back from Doyle.
What ensues is a back-n-forth war of actions between Doyle and Gavin, each deed more anger fueled than the next. Each man doubts the actions, but they can't let the other one up them. Gavin begins to learn the suspect nature of what he was doing in court that day, and questions his involvement in the legal system altogether. Things also begin to unravel for Doyle as a result of Gavin's actions, his wife becomes set on moving herself and the kids away to Oregon, which Doyle doesn't want to accept. He is also struggling with his alcoholism and angry personality.
This is about all I can tell you without spoiling the eventual resolution. I will say that it restores the idea that we need to respect other people and their individual situations and circumstances. When Gavin didn't give Doyle a lift, it all went downhill for the both of them. Their actions after the fact just made things worse on them both. In the end, both characters learn something about themselves, and the nature of humanity and today's society.The lessons extended in Changing Lanes are good ones. The movie itself is decent, and a little above average. I cannot however give it 4 Stars. The performance by Sam Jackson is a very good one, though, and the movie is worth seeing, especially to remind us to slow down a little and behave better towards our fellow man. 3 (and 1/2) Stars.
link directly to this review at https://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=5859&reviewer=289 originally posted: 04/25/02 16:34:20
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USA 12-Apr-2002 (R)
UK N/A
Australia 21-Nov-2002
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