At an especially intense moment in Changing Lanes, William Hurt yells to an Alcoholics Anonymous member played by Samuel L. Jackson, "Alcohol isn't even your drug of choice. You're addicted to chaos!" No joshing: he really says that, and director Roger Michell expects it to come off with fervent emotion. Hurt continues, "For some people it's cocaine, for others it's heroin... but for you it's disaster!" At this point, the whole theater erupted in laughter. And poor Jackson was left to absorb Hurt's nonsense. And even though I have never even experimented with chaos and thus could not relate, I still could not help but feel bad for Jackson -- who must have struggled with this scene -- since it is unlikely that he had abused chaos much either.
On the whole, Changing Lanes plays out like any other commercial psychological thriller. The story centers around an automobile accident between two dissimilar individuals: a recovering alcoholic (Jackson) and an affluent attorney (Ben Affleck, who stinks up the screen but good). Affleck hastily leaves the scene of the accident, forgetting an important file -- one he desperately needs -- on the highway median. The conflict escalates as Jackson holds the file for ransom, and a duel between the two men ensues. Meanwhile, Jackson must deal with his wife, who hates him just because he is an "abusive drunken psycho," and Affleck finds Jesus Christ in this modern, workaday world.
Jackson's performance is good as always, working his furrowed brow and creating an intensity typically caused by simply opening his eyes really wide. Affleck's performance however lacks sincerity. And his decision-making skills are questionable. He cheats on Amanda Peet (the sexy, nude girl from The Whole Nine Yards) with Toni Collette (the mule-faced mom from The Sixth Sense). And, dear God, why? Is it to prove that he doesn't care about appearances? It's Ben Affleck for crying out loud. And c'mon, everyone cares about appearances.
I saw Changing Lanes for free, but for the $10, I would recommend buying a handful of pogs or parking your car downtown for a half hour.
