Review: 'Changing Lanes' uneven but thoughtful

Many layers, though a sometimes unbelievable story

(CNN) -- "Changing Lanes" stars Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson as two men whose lives cross one Good Friday in New York. In a perfectly pitched introduction, we get a glimpse into the worlds of both men and witness their flaws and their strengths -- which shows how much the two have to lose if their fragile worlds are challenged and then thrown into chaos.

Affleck plays Gavin Banek, a hot-shot lawyer who's married to the boss' daughter. At 29 he's already a partner in a huge, prestigious Manhattan law firm. He lives in the rarefied world of the city's wealthy elite, and he's gotten to where he is by displaying a lot of charm -- and by not looking too closely at the illegal inner workings of his father-in-law's legal practice.

Jackson portrays Doyal Gipson, a middle-aged, middle-class recovering alcoholic who is fighting for joint custody of his two sons. He takes his life one paycheck at a time.

On the surface these two men have little in common: one is on the top of his game, and the other is struggling up from rock bottom.

MORE REVIEWS One Hour Photo Simone Blue Crush Possession XXX Signs Goldmember Road to Perdition Men in Black II Mr. Deeds Altar Boys Minority Report Bourne Identity Windtalkers Ya-Ya Sisterhood Bad Company Undercover Brother Sum of All Fears Enough Insomnia Star Wars New Guy Unfaithful The Salton Sea Life or Something... Murder by Numbers Cat's Meow Human Nature Changing Lanes High Crimes Big Trouble Panic Room Blade II Ice Age Showtime Time Machine We Were Soldiers Queen of the Damned Dragonfly Iris John Q Big Fat Liar Collateral Damage Monster's Ball Slackers Birthday Girl Monte Cristo Mothman Orange County Charlotte Gray I Am Sam Gosford Park Black Hawk Down Ali Kate & Leopold Shipping News Jimmy Neutron Joe Somebody Beautiful Mind The Majestic The Lord of the Rings Lantana Royal Tenenbaums Vanilla Sky No Man's Land Affair of the Necklace Enemy Lines In the Bedroom Spy Game Sidewalks Harry Potter Shallow Hal Man Who Wasn't There Heist Amelie Focus Domestic Disturbance Tape Monsters, Inc. Life As A House My First Mister K-Pax From Hell Riding in Cars Last Castle Mulholland Drive Bandits Serendipity Joy Ride Training Day Don't Say a Word Zoolander Hearts in Atlantis Glitter Liam The Glass House Hardball The Musketeer Rock Star O Bubble Boy Jade Scorpion Corelli's Mandolin Apocalypse Redux... American Pie 2 The Others Osmosis Jones Ghost World Rush Hour 2 Jackpot Planet of the Apes America's Sweethearts Jurassic Park III Legally Blonde The Score SongCatcher Cats and Dogs Scary Movie 2 crazy/beautiful A.I. The Fast & the Furious Dr. Dolittle 2 Atlantis Tomb Raider Swordfish Evolution What's the Worst...? Pearl Harbor Angel Eyes Shrek Calle 54 A Knight's Tale Mummy Returns About Adam One Night at McCool's Town and Country The Claim Freddy Got Fingered Bridget Jones's Diary Joe Dirt Along Came a Spider Blow Tailor of Panama Someone Like You Heartbreakers Say It Isn't So Enemy at the Gates The Dish Blow Dry 15 Minutes Caveman's Valentine The Mexican 3000 mi. to Graceland Monkeybone Sweet November Hannibal Shadow of the Vampire The Gift Snatch Chunhyang Finding Forrester O Brother, Where ... Thirteen Days Before Night Falls Vatel The House of Mirth Traffic Malena     EW.COM REVIEWS ABC Africa About a Boy Bad Company Baran Bartleby The Believer Big Trouble The Bourne Identity The Cat's Meow Changing Lanes Chelsea Walls Cherish The Director's Cut CQ Crush The Dangerous Lives    of Altar Boys Deuces Wild Ya-Ya Sisterhood Z-Boys Enough Frailty Elling The Emperor's New    Clothes Enigma The Fast Runner Ganster No. 1 High Crimes Hollywood Ending Home Movie Human Nature The Importance of    Being Earnest Insomnia Jason X Joshua The Komediant Les Destinees The Lady and the Duke Lagaan Late Marriage Life or Something    Like It Lucky Break Mama Africa Murder By Numbers My Big Fat Greek    Wedding The Mystic Masseur National Lampoon's    Van Wilder New Best Friend The New Guy Nine Queens The Other Side of    Heaven Rain Sade The Salton Sea The Scorpion King Some Body Spider-Man Spirit Star Wars: Episode II The Sum of All Fears The Sweetest Thing Thirteen Conversations    About One Thing Time Out Triumph of Love Undercover Brother Unfaithful Vulgar Warm Water Under    a Red Bridge Windtalkers World Traveler 40 Days and 40 Nights All About the    Benjamins Big Bad Love Big Fat Liar Birthday Girl Blade II Borstal Boy Clockstoppers Collateral Damage Crossroads Death to Smoochy Domestic Violence Dragonfly E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Harrison's Flowers Hart'fs War How to Kill Your Neighbor's Dog Ice Age Jim Brown:All-American John Q Kissing Jessica Stein Last Orders Mean Machine Monsoon Wedding No Such Thing Panic Room The Piano Teacher Promises Queen of the Damned Resident Evil Return to Never Land The Rookie Rollerball A Rumor of Angels Scotland, PA Showtime Son of the Bride The Son's Room Sorority Boys Stolen Summer Storytelling Super Troopers The Time Machine Trouble Every Day We Were Soldiers Wendigo What Time Is It There? Y Tu Mama Tambien

But one day, when both are rushing to separate court appearances, they collide while changing lanes on the crowded F.D.R. Drive in Manhattan. Gipson tries to keep a steady head, asking Banek for his insurance information. But Banek can't be bothered and hastily writes Gipson a blank check for the damage. When Gipson asked if he can at least get a ride, Banek blows him off with the words, "Better luck next time."

Negotiations and threats

Banek doesn't know it, but his luck has just run out. His thoughtless action makes Gipson late for his custody hearing. Gipson's ex-wife and sons are given permission by the court to move thousands of miles away, which will ruin Gipson's chances for close contact with his children.

Meanwhile, Banek doesn't know he has left behind an important legal file at the scene of the accident. He not only needs the file to win an important case, but it could mean the difference between making millions of dollars for his firm or being charged with criminal conduct.

Gipson has found the file, but at first does not know its importance. Then, in a scene that defies any type of reality -- one of the movie's missteps -- Banek just happens to run into Gipson on the street of one of the world's biggest cities, and begs him for the file. Gipson, in the depths of despair, basically tells him to go to hell.

What follows is a deft game of cat-and-mouse as Banek attempts to regain the file by stealing Gipson's identity -- via computer -- and blackmailing him into returning the file. Gipson retaliates and the two men begin negotiating their way through each other's lives.

Just when one or the other is about to cooperate, the other one does something that escalates the conflict. Banek needs that file, Gipson simply wants recognition of the fact that his needs and time are valuable and important.

Solid acting by Jackson, directing by Michell

Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck get into an argument after getting into a car accident in "Changing Lanes."

The idea behind "Changing Lanes" was created by first-time screenwriter Chap Taylor. The screenplay, however, was co-written (or completely rewritten) by veteran writer Michael Tolkin, best known for 1992's "The Player." The result is a multi-layered story that attempts to address some deep moral questions about compromise and integrity.

This film also marks the American debut of British film and stage director Roger Michell (1999's "Notting Hill"). He's gone from light romantic comedy to fast-paced drama with amazing ease. He seems to have an innate talent for knowing exactly where to place the camera, and uses a handheld camera and an almost documentary film style with ease. But first and foremost -- unlike many directors -- he places the story and the characters first.

Affleck once again plays Affleck. He's not a bad actor, exactly, he's just incapable of disappearing into a role. He's always Ben Affleck -- Affleck as a World War II pilot in "Pearl Harbor," Affleck as an ex-con in "Reindeer Games," Affleck as a demonic angel in "Dogma," etc. Of course, he's hardly the first movie star with that limitation -- Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, and Harrison Ford have made whole careers of it. However, Ford is cool, and he picks roles that underline his strengths. Not so with Affleck; it's a little frightening to think about him becoming the new Jack Ryan, hero of Tom Clancy's books.

On the other hand, Jackson is fantastic. Despite the fact that there is one small scene that addresses the fact that he's an African-American, his role could have been played by an actor of any race, and in Hollywood that usually means white. It's a testament to Jackson's talent and his star power that he's cast -- time and again -- in roles that have nothing to do with his race.

"Changing Lanes" will not make cinematic history. But it is brisk, sometimes enjoyable and delivers an entertaining 90 minutes.

"Changing Lanes" opens nationwide on Friday and is rated R.