Changing Lanes (2002)

Superb drama directed by Roger Michell.

Samuel J. Jackson plays Doyle Gipson, an insurance salesman and recovering alcoholic fighting for custody of his children. Ben Affleck plays Gavin Banek, a lawyer engaged in shady dealings in the firm of his father-in-law (Sydney Pollack). The two men’s lives collide, literally, when they have a minor road crash in New York. This event sets in motion a sequence of escalating dramas, giving them both the worst day of their lives. 

It’s extremely powerful because it engages on a moral level, exploring what happens to reasonable people in unreasonable situations. Jackson and Affleck are at their best. The supporting characters, including Gipson's wife Valerie (Kim Staunton) and his AA sponsor (William Hurt), are also excellently drawn. 

I couldn’t imagine how the ending could satisfy, but somehow they pulled it off.

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