Stars:
Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Toni Colletti, Sydney Pollack, William Hurt, and
Amanda Peet
Writers:
Chap Taylor and Michael Tolkin
Director:
Roger Mitchell
Feature
length: 98 minutes
Extras:
Director’s Commentary, Deleted Scenes And An Extended Scene, Featurettes
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and English and French Dolby Surround
Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 15
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 2002/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Contrary
to how the theatrical trailer, which is included on the DVD, and the TV
commercials that ran during the theatrical release make the film appear,
“Changing Lanes” is more of a morality tale than a thriller. Ben Affleck is
an attorney rushing to get to a case regarding the contestation of a will and
the power of attorney his law firm now has over a foundation that shuts the
trustees and even next of kin from overseeing. Samuel L. Jackson is an alcoholic
on the wagon who is trying to buy a house for his estranged wife and two sons so
that maybe he can convince his wife not to take the children away to a new job
she has recently been offered in Oregon. On this fateful morning when
Jackson’s character is on his way to family court he has a fender bender with
Affleck, who is too impatient to trade insurance cards and leaves Jackson flat
on the highway. Subsequently Jackson arrives late and misses this important
court appearance, but Affleck forgets an important file that must be produced
before the end of the day or not only can the law firm he works for lose the
case, but he could go to jail for fraud. Of course Jackson has it and soon
“Changing Lanes” becomes an examination of man’s inhumanity to his fellow
man and how low people may go before realizing there are consequences to every
action that contrary to what some might believe, we must take responsibility for
individually. “Changing Lanes” illustrates this point vividly without
getting on a soap box and in the end one can argue that this chance meeting that
sets forth the events that happen in the 24 hours in which the film takes place
might have been fate teaching them a lesson since the actions taken are not so
much just a reaction, but the symptoms of larger problems both men must face
alone. In fact one could also argue that the accident was actually the best
thing that could have happened to either of them considering the road each were
traveling down would and could have yielded far worse consequences down the
line.
Amanda
Peet and Sydney Pollack give standout supporting and memorable performances. One
might liken Pollack’s father-in-law character to be the pseudo twin brother of
the character he played in Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut.” In
particular there is a scene between Pollack and Affleck that almost mirrors a
scene between Pollack and Tom Cruise toward the end of “Eyes Wide Shut.”
Paramount Home Entertainment presents “Changing Lanes” in a slick and sharp
anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio with a good and well rounded English
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack coupled with English and French Language
Dolby Surround Soundtracks and English Captions and Closed Captions for the
hearing impaired encoded on to the dual layered DVD as options. Director Roger
Mitchell provides an articulate and insightful audio commentary that is
complimented by a 6-minute interview with the screenwriters discussing the
film’s premise and so on.
The
“Writer’s Perspective” as well as the other extra value features included
on the “Changing Lanes” DVD feature English Captions and in some cases
Closed Captions for the hearing impaired as well as French Language Subtitles.
There are 2 deleted scenes and 1 extended scene presented in a nice quality
widescreen (2.35:1) aspect ratio with English Dolby Pro Logic Surround Sound.
These scenes add more dimensions to the characters and should have been edited
back into the feature. They run between 2 and 5-minutes each. A 15-minute
“Making-Of” featurette wraps up the extra features included on the DVD.
The
main menu is animated with animated transitions to standard interactive still
frames and all of the interactive menus are easy to navigate. “Changing
Lanes” is a thought provoking drama well worth checking out and is available
on DVD-Video now from Paramount Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.