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Changing Lanes
Paramount Pictures
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for language
Starring
Ben Affleck,
Samuel L. Jackson,
Toni Collette,
Amanda Peet,
William Hurt,
Sydney Pollack,
Bradley Cooper,
and
Jennifer Dundas
A rush hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive turns two complete strangers into vicious adversaries. (Paramount Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Chap Taylor (also story)
Michael Tolkin
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Roger Michell
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: September 10, 2002
Video: September 10, 2002
Theatrical: April 12, 2002
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
99 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
This is one of the best movies of the year.
100
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Glossy, big-budget thriller that qualifies as the season's biggest and most rewarding surprise.
90
Variety
Robert Koehler
Captures the excitement of lightning in a bottle.
80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Far richer than you'd ever think possible.
80
Slate
David Edelstein
It's an elegant, civilized, and deeply liberal piece of craftsmanship, with the sort of social conscience you rarely encounter in a modern American thriller.
80
Chicago Reader
Sergio Mims
Jackson's portrait of impotent rage is tremendous, and Affleck, who drops his usual smugness, is surprisingly good.
80
The New Yorker
David Denby
The plot, with its matched, escalating acts of revenge, may be a contrivance, but within that contrivance Changing Lanes plays earnest and well. [6 May 2002, p. 138]
80
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
The movie goes for the throat and keeps squeezing.
80
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Keith Phipps
Out of that clever setup, Changing Lanes pulls both the promised taut suspense and a much deeper film: an ethics thriller.
80
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Frustrating yet deeply watchable melodrama that makes you think it's a tougher picture than it is.
78
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Rarely have I seen a film so willing to champion the fallibility of the human heart.
75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
Loses its nerve in the final minutes, relying on a series of contrivances to arrive at an unconvincingly pat, happy ending. The story begged for a darker, more biting resolution.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Seething, searing tragedy of unmannerliness.
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
A thrilling ride but also a thoughtful one, it's a movie that does manage to do more good than bad by the end of the day.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Modern film noir done with flair and commitment.
75
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Teasing drama whose relentless good-deed/bad-deed reversals are just interesting enough to make a sinner like me pray for an even more interesting, less symmetrical, less obviously cross-shaped creation.
75
USA Today
Mike Clark
If it's not conventionally speedy, it is almost always gripping.
75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
While Changing Lanes isn't a perfect movie, it's watchable and compelling, and works on more than one level.
75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
A refreshingly novel ride.
70
LA Weekly
Manohla Dargis
Although what ensues is generally unsurprising and as pro forma down-and-dirty as the genre dictates, it's also on occasion rather affecting.
70
Film Threat
Michael Dequina
As it stands Changing Lanes already exceeds expectations, provoking serious thought while skillfully telling a compelling, character-driven story.
70
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
More entertaining than it has a right to be. It's pulpy and preposterous, and yet it gets at a real truth.
67
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
Deeply strange, oddly shimmery movie.
67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
The movie just seems like one more Hollywood cop-out, and a waste of our original emotional investment.
63
Boston Globe
Renee Graham
Banek is one of the more complex characters Affleck has attempted, but the performance comes off flat and uninvolving.
63
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
For all its pretensions, Changing Lanes, ultimately, is about nothing more profound than one foul day.
63
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
It's watchable from start to finish, despite lapses in common sense, and it boasts a terrific cast of over-40 actors.
60
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
What these guys do for revenge during one hellish day in the Big Apple makes the panic room look like Barney's toy box. The film itself goes off the deep end way before the end credits.
60
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Bleak and complex moral thriller.
60
Village Voice
Dennis Lim
Smitten by the symmetry of his parable, director Roger Michell crosscuts emphatically between the preening leads -- a strategy that only draws attention to the numerous lapses in logic and unpersuasive changes of heart while sidelining the lively supporting cast
60
Salon.com
Damien Cave
Despite some solid acting and cinematography -- mistakenly turns what should have been a fast-paced thriller into a cerebral sermon about the slippery slope of corporate law.
60
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
A curious combination of strident preachment and smartly farcical thriller; it's heavy-handed and light-footed at the same time.
50
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
It is so dishonest that the title Changing Lanes can just as well refer to the cheaply contrived turns in the film.
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Definitely erratic, this thing -- all in all, it's the sort of commercial vehicle you might want to stay well back of.
50
New Times (L.A.)
Luke Y. Thompson
If you can roll with these moments, the rest of the film pays off, but even with a relatively happy ending (one that, given the characters in question, may not last), it's a heck of a downer for date night.
38
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Gets too caught up in its escalating violence and strained-to-bursting moral subtexts. It's the blood of souls drenching the screen, and it's a hideous sight to behold.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 35 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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