Changing Lanes (2002)
Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Toni Collette; d. Roger Mitchell; D-

Where are these writers coming from? These writers who grew up on "realistic" cop shows where everything was resolved within an hour, these writers who looked inside the city and saw moral corruption and thought to change it, to teach the audience the Better Way? Tell me where they are, so I can send them back to where they came from.

Yeah, sure, we know that we're a corrupt society; we need a good moral kick in the butt sometimes, and it's admirable what these writers are trying to do. They're trying to show us that we can be moral in a corrupt society by recognizing what's wrong and what's right, even if the wrong seems like it's all for the better good. Too bad none of these writers actually know how to put that message into a solid movie.

Yes, I'm talking about Changing Lanes, and all the other movies like it (like Training Day). Those "action thrillers" set in the big city where some poor young man is apart of a corrupt institution, and realizes that it's goshdarned corrupt to the core and there's nothing he can do about it, so he's going to accept it but try to do something about it anyway so he can feel better about himself! And then we're lead to a resolution, or several resolutions, that seem out of place because they're completely out of context with the character, corruptions that we're supposed to accept because it makes us feel good about ourselves. BS? I think so.

I was lead to believe that Changing Lanes was this great action thriller that had beautiful character development. Bull. These two (the oh-so-talented Ben Affleck and the needs-a-new-agent Samuel L. Jackson) wreck each other's cars and almost wreck their lives in the process, but magically, like in a sitcom, cue the music and regret it, ready to shake hands and be friends in the end. Where were the complex moral consequences the critics said this film had? This is such a film of convenience. Characters just magically pop up to remind these characters that they done bad and they should change their evil ways. It's convenient, for example, that, after Affleck takes on one of his dastardly deeds, the wife of Jackson's character magically appears as if there's no such thing as congestion in New York City to make him think back about how evil he's been. It would be nice if things actually happened that way in real life, but it doesn't. Unfortunately neither the director nor the writers knew about this.

If Changing Lanes was an actual performance by an actor, by goodness it would be the most overcooked performances ever known to man. It's so obvious and blatant in its motives it's painful. Apparently the director learned that shaky, unglamorous camerawork would somehow make an unreal story real. Ah yes, it's Ben Affleck who's talking, but it's another woman's ear we're looking at! Shaky camera work, really close angles, dark lighting! That's realism! We're gonna have close ups, grainy cinematography, and a nice drum-and-bass score! Lotsa fast shots, pictures of NYC behind bridges, only shoot it near the mom-and-pop stores, just so people will believe that we're keeping it real! Mmm-hmm. A sitcom is still a sitcom.

No, I didn't like Changing Lanes. I thought it was a hack job. I thought it was poorly written, and poorly acted and poorly directed. It wasn't exciting, it wasn't interesting. The characters weren't developed at all. We constantly have to be told the characteristics of a certain character instead of doing it the normal way, observing their characteristics. When William Hurt blurted out to Jackson that he was "addicted to chaos," it seemed like something he pulled out of his... head. If he were addicted to chaos, we would've seen it, right? We would've given sufficient background information about his character so that we would've believed it, right? Or are we just supposed to acknowledge that what Hurt is applying to this character, who has been seen as mild mannered and hard working, is actually true just because he says so? Am I to believe that Ben Affleck's character, the way Ben Affleck portrayed him, is suddenly going to have a sudden moral boost, and am I to believe that Samuel L. Jackson's character, the way Samuel L. Jackson portrayed him, is going to do all the antics he did? No! Of course not! And I didn't! And I'm completely boggled as to why the filmmakers thought that I would.

This is a horribly overrated film, a dull action thriller that tries to preach to us and falls completely on its face. The acting by the two leads is stiff, especially coming from Affleck, and the talent in the supporting cast is completely wasted. Save your money for a better film, or better yet, if you want a sermon, go to church. I'm quite sure both will provide a better experience than watching Changing Lanes.

© Vert A Go Go Reviews 2002