Crosstown traffic stands still

It might start out as a high-paced thriller, but Changing Lanes ends on a one-way street to boredom.

The movie opens with a high level of anxiety. Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck) and Doyle Gipson (Samuel L. Jackson) get into a car accident on the FDR Freeway in New York City.

Banek, a high-profile lawyer who just made partner, leaves the scene in order not to be late for an important court appearance.

Gipson, a recovering alcoholic battling for custody of his children, is left stranded on the roadside.

The fender bender leaves both men struggling to regain what one mischance has taken from them – for Banek, important legal files and for Gipson, his time.

With each man’s future at stake, they’ll stop at nothing to get what they want.

The entertainment value of the movie wanes when the two men question their moral integrity. It goes from thriller to monotonous drama.

The characters make an about-face quicker than Darva Conger divorced millionaire Rick Rockwell.

Within minutes they’ve left their cutthroat attitudes in search of personal integrity. It’s a bit hard to swallow.

The plot loses credibility by putting a Disney ending on a not-so-Disney movie. A happy ending isn’t always a necessity.

Both Academy Award winner Affleck and Oscar nominee Jackson give convincing performances, given the script they had to work with.

Affleck is convincing as a young lawyer who’ll stop at nothing to achieve wealth and power – until his moment of realization.

Would a lawyer driving an $80,000 car, who has a beautiful wife, all drenched in shallowness, really give it up to work for free because of the day’s events?

Jackson is a master of desperation, portraying well a man who has hit rock bottom.

But by the end of Changing Lanes, audience members might want to play in traffic.