Changing Lanes

2002 1h 38m English 6.5

Action, Drama, Thriller

A successful New York attorney, Gavin Banek (Ben Affleck), is in a rush to file a power of appointment, which will prove a rich dead man (Simon Dunn) signed his foundation over to Banek's law firm. The dead man's daughter (Mina Dunn) is opposed to Banek getting hold of the foundation as she wants to control the funds herself. Banek is under pressure from his law firm partners to bag the account.He has a collision with another car, belonging to an insurance salesman, Doyle Gipson (Samuel L Jackson), who is also in a rush to a hearing to try to gain custody of his children and to prevent his estranged wife from taking them to Oregon.Banek tries to brush Gipson off with a blank check thereby disobeying the law. After Gipson refuses to accept the check and voices his desire to "do the right thing", that is, filing a police report and insurance claim, Banek strands Gipson, telling him, "Better luck next time". After arriving to the court late, Gipson learns that it proceeded without him and that it didn't go in his favor.Unfortunately for Banek, he dropped the crucial power of appointment file at the scene of the accident, and the judge gives him until the end of the day to re-obtain the papers and present them. Gipson, who took the papers, is in a state of dilemma on whether to return the file especially after the events of the day. On the other hand, Banek desperate to get his papers back, goes to someone skilled with computers and gets him to switch off Gipson's credit. Gipson needed credit for a loan so he could buy a house for his family (Gipson's wife has filed for divorce, has custody of the kids & wants to move to Oregon, but Gipson has purchased a house in NY for her to stay along with his sons, so that he can be near them), and he becomes further enraged, determined to make life difficult for Banek.Meanwhile Gavin gets suspicious that his partners sent him alone to represent his firm for the custody hearing of a 107 MM $ foundation. He suspects foul play on behalf of his partners & wonders that he hast even seen the rest of the files of the foundation. He tells his partners about how he lost the power of appointment for the Dunn foundation. The partners ask him to reformat the power of appointment & use the signature page from the living will of Simon Dunn to forge a new power of appointment file. Gavin activates the sprinkler system to empty the office & takes the time to study the original Dunn foundation files & discovers that the partners are paying themselves 1.5 MM $ per year out of the foundation money just to manage it.Gipson calls Banek & asks him to turn on his credit before his meeting with the banker in 1/2 hour or he will destroy the Power of appointment. Banek agrees & asks his man to turn the credit back on. The credit is turned back on, but a bankruptcy filing on Gipson is missed & shows up in his records during GIpson's meeting with the banker. On this basis his loan application is refused. Though it is made clear that Banek and Gipson are radically different, they both have an angry, vengeful streak, each capable of abandoning his morals just to punish the other. The film ends with both men having a new outlook on life, concentrating on ethics and the moral implications of their actions.Banek approaches Gipson's bank & tries to co-sign the loan application so that Gipson can see his kids everyday by keeping them in NY. Banek also writes a letter to the court admitting that the power of appointment is a fake & was obtained by him & his partners when Mr Simon Dunn was of reduced mental facilities.Ultimately the two men apologize to each other, and Gipson returns the file, but it looks to be too late for both of what they were trying to do. Banek ends up using the file to force his boss to do the right thing & return the 3 MM $ he stole from Dunn's foundation till date and plans to represent Gipson pro Bono so he can get the house he wants.Banek also visits Gipson's wife to explain everything to her, knowing he owes Gipson that much. The movie ends with Gipson's wife and children smiling at him from across the street, indicating a possible reconciliation or at the very least some kind of arrangement between the two in the future.