Devilish revenge plot drives 'Changing Lanes'
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Raunchy silliness or soul-searching revenge drama? Or, to put it simply, fluff or plot? This weekend's two biggest releases are a study in contrasts.
You want plot? "Changing Lanes" has plot, and lots of it: a traffic accident, two struggling marriages, a father trying to re-establish himself with his sons, corruption within a Wall Street law firm, a potential fraud case involving a dead philanthropist, a crucial lost file, alcoholism, illegal computer hacking, bankruptcy, a false fire alarm and the basic struggle to be a good person in a world in which goodness is not always rewarded.
And hey, all this happens in the first half-hour or so. Fasten your seat belts.
Thanks to a tight screenplay by Chap Taylor and Michael Tolkin ("The Player") and the unflagging pace set by director Roger Michell, "Changing Lanes" doesn't feel overburdened by all its drama, which all stems from one small incident. Young Manhattan attorney Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck), on his way to a court hearing, has a fender-bender with Doyle Gipson (Samuel L. Jackson), a man struggling to put his life back together. Angry words are exchanged, both men are late to their appointments, and an intricate revenge plot clicks into place.
Like Sam Raimi's masterful "A Simple Plan" a few years back, "Changing Lanes" deals with how good people can, when pressured by circumstances, do very, very bad things. It's a rare big-studio movie that seems to operate in a moral universe — as Gavin and Doyle lash out at each other, using whatever weapons are available to them, natural and believable consequences ensue. And each man is given not a standard-issue sidekick, but a conscience and voice of reason: Doyle's in the form of his wise AA sponsor (William Hurt); Gavin's in his ex-lover and co-worker Michelle (the always affecting Toni Collette, with what may be the most hideous movie hairdo of the year).
Many good actors flit through this busy movie: Dylan Baker, his ears glowing red, as a devilish hacker; Sydney Pollack as Gavin's morally compromised father-in-law; Kim Staunton as Doyle's angry wife. But the movie rests on the shoulders of Affleck and Jackson, and they're more than up to the task.
Affleck seems to be doing his usual charming frat-boy overachiever, then shows in one remarkable scene — listening to an idealistic law student, he suddenly starts to laugh — that he's something quite different.
And Jackson, playing the entire movie as a man on the verge of desperation and utter collapse, has an aching close-up at the end. He makes us believe, despite everything, in goodness.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com.
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