Changing Lanes (2002)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Thriller	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-With optional subtitles, Roger Michell (Director) Featurette-Making Of Featurette-The Writer's Perspective Deleted Scenes-2 Additional Footage-Extended scene - 1 Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2002
Running Time	94:40
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (31:19)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Subtitle Select Then Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Roger Michell
Studio Distributor	Paramount Home Entertainment	Starring	Ben Affleck Samuel L. Jackson Kim Staunton Toni Collette Sydney Pollack Richard Jenkins Amanda Peet
Case	?
RPI	$35.95	Music	David Arnold

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Hungarian Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English French Hebrew Croatian Hungarian Portuguese Slovenian Serbian English Audio Commentary French Audio Commentary	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    The story is a simple, very personal, one. Two men, lawyer Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck) and insurance sales drone Doyle Gipson (Samuel L Jackson), get into a relatively minor car accident on a New York highway, but when Gavin drives off to a court appointment with the words "better luck next time", a chain of events is set off that leads both men into trying to bring the other down for what they did. The story is not what the movie is about however, it is about watching the interaction of two men who refuse to see reason and let it be. It is about seeing how essentially good men can be lead to a place of darkness when they loose sight of the bigger picture for the narrow aim of victory.

    In a movie of this nature, the performances are crucial - this is not an effects movie where wooden acting is easily hidden by flashy effects, or where an unbelievable performance is outweighed by the even more unbelievable visuals. Fortunately Affleck and Jackson do not disappoint. As a star sports person can raise their performance for the biggest events, so these two men have passed their own personal bests for these performances. They are believable, intense, and fascinating to watch.

    Some will only see this film as being slow and boring, and if looked at just from the perspective of the story, it is that. But if time is taken to get into the battle of wills between the two protagonists, this is very rewarding viewing. Unfortunately, many who make the above observations have become used to the fast-paced effects flick, and have little patience left for a slow-moving, involved, and complex drama.

    All this is not to say that the movie is perfect - the plot has a number of holes in it, and the very stark visual style ensures the look is far from glamorous. Cinematographer Salvatore Totino used natural light where possible, and where not possible lit the sets to have the appearance of using natural light. This gives the entire film a documentary feel. Additionally, the camera almost never stops moving. This is not the Homicide: Life On The Street style of aggressive hand-held camera work, but a more inquisitive style where the camera is always gently moving around, probing as if to look into the important areas of action. These choices both enhance and detract from the film. On one hand they add to the feeling of realism, but on the other they make for a visually uninteresting movie, further adding to the lack of interest for those who were already bored. The other major disappointment is the way in which the feud finally comes to an end. The two protagonists cease their battle before it goes into truly dark territory. It is obvious that the writers chose their ending for a reason, and it is a good one too, but that does not prevent the feeling that the movie wimps out before going all the way.

    Ultimately, this film is a rewarding venture for those patient enough to see the human drama rather than wait for the action. A pair of excellent performances by Ben Affleck and Samuel L Jackson are complemented by fine supporting turns from Toni Collette, Sydney Pollack, Kim Staunton, and Richard Jenkins (Jenkins is a favourite of the Farrelly brothers, so it is interesting to see him here). Adrenaline junkies should look elsewhere.

Video

    Presented at the original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, this transfer is 16x9 enhanced.

    Sharpness is quite good, with a nice smoothness to the image that adds to the natural feeling. There is plenty of fine detail, and the transfer is never wanting for clarity. Grain is often present, but rarely intrusive, with only the shot of the sky at 1:31, and the darkened office from 85:41 on being obvious. Shadow detail is without fault, but as the entire film takes place on one day - and mostly during the day - there are very few dimly lit scenes. There is no low level noise present.

    Colours are a little muted, although this is most likely due to the style of film-making rather than any fault of the transfer. The general use of natural lighting, and the consequent documentary feel it lends the production, results in a look where highlights are toned down, and the colour rendering is never stretched.

    There are no compression artefacts. There are a few small film artefacts. Flecks such as those at 60:40, and on the closing Paramount logo at 94:39 are visible, but in general they do not distract. Aliasing is a larger issue, as it does occur quite frequently, and often noticeably. Some of the worst examples include the bridge from 60:24 to 60:27, and the collar of the job applicant from 25:23 until 26:07. The level of aliasing is certainly not as bad as some DVDs (the recently reviewed Johnny English being a prime example), but it is high enough to be disappointing.

    The subtitles are in large print, are well paced and easy to read. Unfortunately they are not particularly accurate, often re-phrasing the lines of dialogue to make for better reading.

    This is an RSDL formatted disc with the layer change taking place at 31:19 during chapter 6. As is becoming normal, this change is mid-scene, but does not interrupt any dialogue. It could easily have been better placed, but at least it does not disrupt the flow too much.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    There are four audio tracks present on this disc. The first three are the original English dialogue and dubs in French and Hungarian, all presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 (at 448 kbps). The final track is the English audio commentary track, presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (at 192 kbps).

    Dialogue is clear and easy to understand at all times, which is even more important than usual for a film of this nature. All the vocal nuances in the performances of Ben Affleck and Samuel L Jackson are captured without hassles. Audio sync is also spot on throughout the transfer, and is never an issue.

    The score is credited to David Arnold, and a very interesting score it is. The best description would be "urban" (and not as in that style of contemporary music), as Arnold has woven the sounds of the city into a largely synthesised score, giving a slightly hectic feel to the music. It supports the action extremely well, although soundtrack sales will probably not be all that great - it is not easy to listen to.

    The surrounds are not extensively used for this movie. They come to life from time to time for music cues, or for some ambient effects, but for the most part this is a frontal soundtrack. Given the dialogue-driven nature of the film, however, this is really to be expected, so it is not particularly disappointing.

    Like the surrounds, the subwoofer has little to do, only occasionally coming to life. Also like the surrounds, it suffers more from lack of opportunity than any problem with the soundtrack itself.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Audio Commentary - Roger Michell (Director)

Featurette: The Making Of Changing Lanes (14:59)

Featurette: A Writer's Perspective (6:30)

Deleted and Extended Scenes

• Interview with Gordon Pinella (2:08) - Starting from when Gavin returns from the courthouse to the office, this scene is another of the graduate interviews. Interesting, but ultimately unnecessary.
• Artie Crenshaw (2:34) - Doyle's boss wants to lay him off, and Doyle quite literally begs for his job. While director Roger Michell mentions in this commentary that there is nothing wrong with this scene, to me it undermines the character of Doyle somewhat, and the movie is definitely stronger without it.
• Extended Confessional (4:25) - A considerable extension to the confessional scene, where Gavin discusses God, his beliefs, and his lack of faith with a priest. A very heavy, somewhat preachy, scene that the movie is definitely better off without.

Theatrical Trailer (2:13)

    The video quality is very good, with only the relatively large amount of aliasing causing any issue.

    The audio quality is excellent, although very much suited to the style of the film, which means quite frontal and without any really exciting musical cues or surround effects.

    The extras are enough that the disc is not anywhere near bare-bones, but there could easily have been many more.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall