Changing Lanes (2002)

Elevator Pitch: Doyle Gipson and Gavin Banek are on their way to different courts when they collide in the freeway, and due to the urgency of his appearance Banek dashes off leaving Gipson with a blank cheque and, accidentally, a file essential to his court appearance. Gipson arrives at court late and fails in his appeal for access to his children. Banek must search for his file. Gipson has it and communicates aggressively. With both their lives teetering on the edge of disaster the two men take each other on, regardless of the likely consequences.

Content: There is a bit of drinking and some temptation since Gupson is a recovering alcoholic, with a sponsor. The car crash takes place, the men argue. Later Gipson argues with his soon to be ex, Banek argues with his senior partners in the law firm, and becomes party to their intended illegal activity. He meets with his wife, daughter of the boss, who tells him off. Gipson goes to an AA meeting and a bar, and almost gives up, but fights a couple of guys instead.

A View:  Gipson intends to buy his soon to be ex a house in the city to prevent her taking their offspring to Oregon. Banek both gives Gipson a blank cheque and makes him technically bankrupt. These are both pretty dodgy plot devices and are followed by more, so despite the earnestness of the presentation I kept wondering if this could really be happening. I enjoyed the brief appearance of Kevin Sussman, Stewart in Big Bang, and am a fan of several of the actors, but feel that in the end they were poorly served by the script. So not really a watch, even for nothing.

Additional Info: The film company got some stick for cutting the trailer so that it appeared to be a thriller, rather than a slow burn argument.