Affleck good despite absence of Kevin Smith

Changing Lanes - R
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck
Directed by: Roger Michell
Showing: Showplace West 12 From director Roger Michell ("Notting Hill") comes the frenetic and somewhat over-the-top film "Changing Lanes." Starring the always-entertaining Samuel L. Jackson, along with Ben Affleck, the star of such agonizing tripe as "Bounce," "Reindeer Games" and "Pearl Harbor" -- the movie opens with a small car accident. This results in Affleck losing an important legal document, while simultaneously leaving Jackson stranded on the highway. Because of this, Jackson is extremely late to his divorce hearing, resulting in him losing custody of his children. If you've seen the trailers, you pretty much can tell how the movie unfolds from there. It boils down to a steady escalation of spiteful acts from both parties, including an almost uncountable number of felonies and misdemeanors such as Jackson beating two men with a telephone receiver while they beg for mercy. By now, you might have noticed I've declined to mention either of the main characters' names, but don't worry, they're not important, because this whole film is basically a matter of pitting Affleck's character from "Boiler Room" up against a family-man version of Jackson's Jules Winfield character from "Pulp Fiction." For all of its flaws, "Changing Lanes" is an interesting look at the small social graces that hold our society together. Both actors, while seemingly playing carbon-copies of earlier parts, do an outstanding job in their respective roles. In fact, this is probably the first movie not associated with writer/director/producer Kevin Smith in which Affleck is actually good (for the record, "Good Will Hunting" was executive produced by Smith). The film does such an excellent job of building tension that you might find yourself squirming in your chair. The film also highlights the vast chasms between the rich and poor, with Affleck's character easily handing over a cool $5,000 to a computer hacker as payment for erasing Jackson's financial records, while Jackson struggles to get a loan to buy a home that would be difficult to describe even as a "fixer-upper." Overall, "Changing Lanes" is an interesting film that's worthy of your hard-earned cash.