Changing Lanes is a 2002
dramaA drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
-thriller film directed by
Roger MichellRoger Michell is an English theatre, television and film director.-Personal life:He was born in Pretoria, South Africa but spent significant parts of his childhood in Beirut, Damascus and Prague as his father was a diplomat. He was educated at Clifton College where he became a member of Brown's...
and starring
Ben AffleckBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...
and
Samuel L. JacksonSamuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
. It was released on April 12, 2002 in
North AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
Plot
A successful
New YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
attorneyA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, Gavin Banek, is in a rush to file a
power of appointmentA power of appointment is a term most frequently used in the law of wills to describe the ability of the testator to select a person who will be given the authority to dispose of certain property under the will. Although any person can exercise this power at any time during their life, its use is...
, which will prove a dead man signed his foundation over to Banek's law firm. He has a collision with another car, belonging to an insurance salesman, Doyle Gipson, who is also in a rush to a hearing to try to gain custody of his children and to prevent his estranged wife from taking them to
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Banek tries to brush Gipson off with a
blank checkA blank cheque , in the literal sense, is a cheque that has no numerical value written in, but is already signed...
thereby disobeying the law. After Gipson refuses to accept the check and voices his desire to "do the right thing", that is, filing a police report and insurance claim, Banek strands Gipson, telling him, "better luck next time". After arriving to the court late, Gipson learns that it proceeded without him and that it didn't go in his favor.
Unfortunately for Banek, he dropped the crucial power of appointment file at the scene of the accident, and the judge gives him until the end of the day to re-obtain the papers and present them. Gipson, who took the papers, has no intention of returning them, and in desperation, Banek goes to someone skilled with computers and gets him to switch off Gipson's credit. Gipson needed credit for a loan so he could buy a house for his family, and he becomes further enraged, determined to make life difficult for Banek.
Both men continue to do morally reprehensible things in an attempt to one-up each other, and eventually they begin to question their actions. Though it is made clear that Banek and Gipson are radically different, they both have an angry, vengeful streak, each capable of abandoning his morals just to punish the other. The film ends with both men having a new outlook on life, concentrating on ethics and the moral implications of their actions. Ultimately the two men apologize to each other and Gipson returns the file, but it looks to be too late for both of what they were trying to do. Banek ends up using the file to force his boss to do the right thing and plans to represent Gipson pro bono so he can get the house he wants. Banek also visits Gipson's wife to explain everything to her, knowing he owes Gipson that much. The movie ends with Gipson's wife and children smiling at him from across the street, indicating a possible reconciliation or at the very least some kind of arrangement between the two in the future.
Themes
Several themes are explored. A recurring instance is irony, a good example being the two students whom Banek interviews apparently for roles of articled clerkship with the firm, fresh out of law school. The young man especially says he would like to be a lawyer because he believes people are by nature good, and that conflict arises from historical forces, the law being there as a "buffer", him believing strongly in fairness and justice. He is given the role by Banek, who invites him to see for himself just how the law is in practice. The audience is left wondering how very different the two characters' days would have been had only Banek cared to ask Gipson where he was going that morning, that is the same place as he, to give him a friendly lift.
Reception
The movie was a box-office success, with a budget of $45,000,000, it grossed $66,818,548 in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and $28,117,216 elsewhere, with a total gross of $94,935,764..
Critical Reception
The film received favorable reviews from critics. Review aggregate
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 77% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 149 reviews, with an average score of 7/10.
MetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
gave it an average score of 69 out of 100 from the 36 reviews it collected.