Changing Lanes (2002)

Two cars collide on the FDR expressway. Their drivers--two seemingly opposite men--are Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck), a young white partner in a powerful law firm, and Doyle Gipson (Samuel L. Jackson), a meek, working-class black man. At the scene of this fender bender, Gavin, who is busy trying to make a business appointment on his cell phone, offers Doyle a blank check to cover damages. Doyle, wanting to properly exchange information, declines, causing Gavin to flee the accident site. In his haste, Gavin leaves behind an important legal file which Doyle uses to his advantage, setting off a brutal cycle of revenge b...
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etween these two men who began this Good Friday as strangers.

A class commentary that is decidedly different from director Roger Michell's previous film, NOTTING HILL, CHANGING LANES provides very little information about its two central characters before the moment of their car accident. Michell introduces them by crosscutting between both men speaking publicly--Gavin is lecturing to a charitable foundation, Doyle is talking at an AA meeting. These techniques of crosscutting and mirror imaging are used effectively throughout the film to underscore that the obvious social and economic differences between the two men doesn't disguise the dark and angry nature that exists in both of these men, and potentially in all of humanity.
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Director Roger Michell follows up the hit romantic comedy Notting Hill (1999) with this thought-provoking thriller. Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson star, respectively, as Gavin Banek and Doyle Gibson, two New York men whose lives become accidentally intertwined in a Good Friday fender bender on the FDR Drive. Late for a crucial appointment, hotshot lawyer Gavin tosses Doyle a blank check and leaves the scene, while Doyle, whose car is inoperable, is late for a court-appointed custody hearing. A recovering alcoholic, Doyle's tardiness doesn't sit well with the judge, who - sick of waiting for Gipson - grants cus...
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tody to Doyle's ex-wife in Doyle's absence. The situation worsens when it becomes evident that Doyle has an equally important file belonging to Gavin, which proves that an elderly man gave Banek's firm power-of-attorney over his foundation. So begins an escalating war of words and deeds between the two men. Soon, egged on by an associate (Toni Collette), Gavin hires a "fixer" (Dylan Baker) to destroy Doyle's credit, forcing Doyle to fire back with some cunning moves of his own. Changing Lanes co-stars William Hurt, Sydney Pollack, and Toni Collette.
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De ambitieuze advocaat Gavin Banek moet een belangrijk dossier afleveren bij de rechtbank. De wanhopige vader Doyle Gibson heeft net een nieuw huis voor zijn ex-vrouw en twee zoontjes gekocht in de hoop ze terug te krijgen. Wanneer de twee in een verkeersongeluk met elkaar terecht komen raakt Banek z'n dossier kwijt, en mist Gibson een belangrijke afspraak bij de rechtbank. De ruzie die op het ongeluk volgt escaleert aangezien Banek wanhopig is om zijn dossier terug te krijgen.

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