CHANGING LANES [2002] Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck ; Rated 15

Let me start by saying, there is nothing actually that special about this film. Don't get me wrong though, the script, the acting, the directing, it's all good it's just not stand out of the crowd stuff, well at least not on the surface. You might say to yourself then... why 4/5? when it is widely known that 3/5, not 4/5 tends to indicate a film is good. I'll tell you why... It is hard to find films these days which are made consistently well from all angles, editing, camera work, dialogue.. to name just a few and therefore most films are granted excellence through set parts, even though it may fall down terribly in others, for example Star Wars Episode II may not have been so talked about and highly regarded if it wasn't for Yoda's exhilarating light sabre duel with Count Dooku. Changing Lanes isn't like this, it doesn't have a stand out scene or act that pulls the film up to greatness... it is great as whole because of all of it's parts combined not because of one specific aspect. It's chronological development which takes place across a 24 hour period really allows you to feel the tightly knitted intricacies which make this film feel so likeable. I found the story very refreshing and unusually down to earth, the most appealing part of it being the very three dimensional nature of it's two main characters, which as you can imagine is warmly welcomed, especially after watching 'XXX'. Changing Lanes is a water tight piece of filmmaking, nothing out of the ordinary... just consistently entertaining.

4/5