|
 Movie
B+ |
Video A- | Audio B+
| Extras B-
Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson, Tony Collette,
Sydney Pollack, William Hurt, and Amanda Peet
director Roger Michell | Paramount Home Video
2002 | Suspense - Thriller | R | 98 minutes
Region 1 | DVD-9
anamorphic
widescreen 2.35:1 aspect ratio
| Dolby Digital 5.1
Summary: Changing Lanes is a gripping
suspense thriller about two men and how their lives change when they crash
into each other on the highway and tempers flare due to time pressures of
a fast-paced world. Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck) is a young
successful lawyer who recently made partner at his father-in-law's law firm. He is
in a hurry to the courthouse to present some important legal documents to the
judge. Doyle Gipson (Samuel L. Jackson) is a recovering alcoholic who is trying
desperately to keep his
family together by buying them a home and holding a steady job. Doyle
is trying to show up on time at a divorce/custody hearing.
Right after their cars crash, Gavin drops an
important original legal document that he needs in court. At the
same time, Doyle needs a ride to the
courthouse since he's running late for an important divorce/custody
hearing and his car is completely disabled. But Gavin rushes off and rudely brushes
Doyle off
saying, "better luck next time". Doyle picks up the dropped legal document and briefly thinks about
returning it, but decides against doing so out of anger. The lives
of these two men take sharp turns due to how they treated each other right
after the car accident. There is also a chillingly good scene
between Gavin and his wife (Amanda Peet),
where she tells him exactly what she expects him to do. Amanda Peet
delivered a great performance. With a wife like that, who needs the
Devil?
Changing Lanes explores the good and dark sides of human
nature, when tremendous real-life pressures mount and much are at
stake. It shows us potentially how nasty we can become and how far
we're willing to go, even when it means damaging other people's lives, to
protect what we hold dear in our lives. It's a provocative movie
that exposes the destructive power of anger, vengeance, and
self-absorption. Though most of the movie deals with dark themes, it
does have its redeeming qualities as well. If your mood calls for a
strong, provocative, gripping movie, hop in your car and head to your
nearest DVD retailer and remember Changing Lanes. Drive
carefully now!
Special Features: audio commentary by
director Roger Michell; "The Making of Changing Lanes"
featurette; "A Writer's Perspective" featurette; two deleted scenes and one
extended scene (with very good development of Gavin's character); and theatrical trailer
DVD released on 9/10/2002 | Reviewed 9/22/2002
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Additional Notes: Unless we specify otherwise, the
video and audio quality are very good when their grades are "A-"
or better. Only the highest number of channels of surround sound
format is listed (e.g., Dolby Digital 5.1). If there are both Dolby
Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 soundtracks, then both are listed. All
DVD-Video discs are backwards compatible with stereo-only playback
systems.
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Staff@TimeForDVD.com.
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Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES STR-V444ES A/V receiver, four
B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers
and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable
Interlink 400 MKII interconnects, Monster Cable
Original speaker cables in bi-wire configuration with Monster Cable twist-on gold-plated banana plug
connectors, Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio
rack, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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