Changing Lanes Review
by Tim Wick
Note: This review didn't get posted when I first saw the movie. Since I
watched it I have recommended it to all my friends by telling them it is not
what they think. Those who have made time to watch it have come away
agreeing that it is a far better film than they imagined. For those who
think there is nothing good to watch in the theatres right now, I give you
Changing Lanes.
I'm trying to decide if the trailer for Changing Lanes is the best
trailer I've seen recently or the worst. Convincing arguments could be
made either way.
On the one hand, the trailer is pretty much free from spoilers because it
focuses entirely on action and sound bites that comprise little or nothing
of what the film is actually about. The film is a pleasant surprise as a
result since it is not the formulaic revenge drama the trailer suggested
we were going to see.
On the other, the trailer actually made me initially decide to skip the
movie. Had it not been for an extremely solid review from Roger Ebert
, I probably
wouldn't have given this film a chance. I'm glad I didn't because of the
films I've seen this year, this film has only been surpassed by Y Tu Mama
Tambien.
So while I certainly appreciate the fact that the movie I watched was free
from pre-spoiled trailer moments, I wondered how many other people had
skipped the movie because the trailer really didn't make it look that
interesting. Alternately, how many people were angry because they were
watching a film they thought was going to have a lot of car chases? Given
the respectable opening weekend returns, I think it is quite possible that
the right people heard about the film and went to see it.
The title Changing Lanes implies that this is some sort of road rage
movie and I've heard some people refer to the film that way. That is such
a sad oversimplification of the film that I wonder if those people
actually saw a different movie starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck.
Think instead of why we change lanes when we are driving. We do it
because we think it will somehow make it better/easier/faster to get where
we are going. We also do it because it's time to get off the freeway. In
this film, changing lanes is a metaphor for the lives of two men who have
a decision to make. There are other roads to travel - other lives to
lead. Will they continue down the path they have chosen or will they find
a different direction?
In a bad movie, the answer to this question would be obvious. In this
movie, it is not.
What makes this film really work is Chap Taylor's convincing screenplay.
My major gripe with Panic Room was not that the script was dumb, but
that the script was so smart overall that it didn't deserve the few
obvious shortcuts that it did take. Changing Lanes avoids the pitfalls
that I saw in Panic Room. Jackson's Doyle Gibson and Affleck's Gavin
Banek are fully realized characters full of honorable and dishonorable
traits. Their lives intersect at a critical moment and they essentially
ruin each others day. Each blames the other for the way their life has
turned out despite the fact that both are responsible for their own
predicaments.
Doyle misses a court appearance and loses the custody of his children. Is
it Gavin's fault that Doyle missed the appointment? Arguably yes.
However, it is not Gavin's fault that Doyle had a court date in the first
place. Gavin needs a court document that Doyle is holding hostage. Is it
Doyle's fault that Gavin can't get the file? Yes again, but it is
Gavin's own need to be accepted that made him act in a way that would
result in dropping the file in the first place. Each man blames the other
for his predicament and until they blame themselves they will continue on
the self destructive path they were on at the beginning of the film.
The interesting thing about the way the script works with these characters
is the way in which we see them at their best and their worst. Despite
being late for his court appearance, Doyle makes time for his children.
Gavin is clearly conflicted about the contents of that file and what they
represent. Even as their chess match with each other becomes more and
more dangerous, we see that these are two decent men doing battle with
each other because they are afraid to do battle with themselves.
Although the film is really about Gavin and Doyle, the script is smart
enough to give it's secondary characters a lot of depth. Amanda Peet and
Sydney Pollack are Gavin's wife and father in law. Both see the moral
dilemma he is in and both offer their own observations about what he
should do. From a certain point of view, their opinion is chilling. From
another point of view, they are people choosing to do the best they can
with the resources they have available. Are they bad people or simply
realistic people who can accept that they do more good than harm? By
being fair to these characters and refusing to allow them to be simply
abhorrent figures, the film is far more convincing.
Also convincing is the work of Toni Collette (The Sixth Sense, Muriel's
Wedding) as Gavin's work associate and former mistress. Where Gavin looks
like his home is in the office, her office looks like she is ready to move
out at any moment. He has grown to live with who he is but she never
will. One gets the impression that she would be out the door in a
heartbeat as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
Doyle's ex-wife Ellen (Ileen Getz) is another convincing character. She
is tired of his alcoholism but can see a man trying to make himself a
better person for the sake of his children. The decisions she makes are
always with her children in mind, but they are not always the right ones.
The film is as tight a psychological drama as I've seen in a long time
because the characters are so well defined. Gavin agonizes over a bad
choice, knows he is making the wrong decision and makes it anyway. Doyle
orders a drink and then stares at it, unable to go through with it not
because he is on the wagon, but because a drink is not really what he
wants. A lesser movie would have Gavin make his decision without
flinching and Doyle drinking himself into a stupor. This movie has too
much respect for it's characters to boil them down to a couple of tired
cliches.
Changing Lanes is nothing like the film you have been led to believe.
It is quiet and smart instead of being loud and stupid. The camera works
it's way around corners and over walls to make us feel like spies watching
these two men's most desperate moments. We are reminded that an alcoholic
can never really begin to heal until they have hit rock bottom. What we
are also reminded is that sometimes rock bottom is too late. I fully
expect this movie to be one of the biggest surprises of the year.
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