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Changing Lanes

98 statements
18 feature instances
7 referencing feature instances

Changing Lanes	type	TVTItem
Changing Lanes	label	Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes	page	ChangingLanes
Changing Lanes	comment	Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_3'); })Changing Lanes is a 2002 thriller film directed by Roger Michell, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Affleck, and Toni Collette. The film was released by Paramount, receiving a positive critical reception and box-office performance.Doyle Gipson (Jackson) is an insurance salesman and father who is down on his luck. He is a recovering alcoholic whose ex-wife has threatened to take the boys with her from New York to Oregon, effectively killing his chances of seeing them regularly, or of ultimately reconciling with her. Doyle believes that he can convince his wife to change her mind by proving that he has changed since their separation - he's remained sober, kept a steady job, and is even on the verge of securing a loan to buy her and the boys their own house so that they won't have to move. To get that chance, however, he has to show up to family court to convince a judge to side with him, and rule in favor of keeping the boys in the city they grew up in.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_2'); })Gavin Banek (Affleck) is a successful young attorney and a partner at his father-in-law's high-class law firm. After delivering a speech at an event designed to honor the charitable donations of a recently deceased multi-millionaire, Gavin tries to pay his respects to the man's granddaughter, a former friend of his who now refuses to give him the time of day. She is furious over the fact that Gavin convinced her grandfather on his deathbed to sign a document giving control over his expansive trust to Gavin's firm... a decision that just so happened to make Banek's fellow partners a handsome sum of money after they dissolved the board of trustees. While the bereaved granddaughter is suing to have control of the trust taken from the law firm, Gavin is certain that the judge will side with him once he delivers the signed, notarized Power of Appointment at their upcoming hearing.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_content_1'); })The fates of these two men quite literally collide one morning when both of them, distracted by the legal battles ahead, crash into each other on the freeway on their way to the courtroom. While the turn of events is most certainly an inconvenience for both of them, Doyle insists they "do the right thing" by exchanging insurance information and waiting for the police to arrive. Gavin refuses, and after futilely attempting to pay off Doyle with a blank check, hurriedly jumps back in his car and speeds away. In the process he leaves Doyle, whose car was totaled in the accident, stranded... and also leaves behind the folder containing the Power of Appointment he needs to win the case.When Banek realizes that he no longer has the file in his possession, he convinces the judge to give him until the end of the day to retrieve it. However Doyle, who is now in danger of losing his children since he failed to show up in time for his own court appearance, refuses to return it. In desperation, the lawyer hires a "fixer" to put pressure on Doyle by canceling his bank accounts, putting the man's loan — which is his only remaining chance of convincing his ex-wife to stay — in jeopardy. Not one to be pushed around, an enraged Doyle delivers Gavin an ultimatum: make things right, or the file gets destroyed. From there, the two men enter an ever-tightening spiral of revenge, at the center of which they are bound to collide once more... this time, with potentially deadly results.
Changing Lanes	fetched	2019-12-29T18:46:55Z
Changing Lanes	parsed	2020-06-24T02:16:46Z
Changing Lanes	isPartOf	DBTropes
Changing Lanes / int_19ebe383	type	Never Trust a Trailer
Changing Lanes / int_19ebe383	comment	Never Trust a Trailer: The trailer briefly shows a fistfight between Gavin and Doyle that never happens in the film.
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Changing Lanes / int_1afb845c	type	Tropaholics Anonymous
Changing Lanes / int_1afb845c	comment	Alcoholics Anonymous: Doyle's addiction is revealed in an opening scene where he is describing the positive turn he feels his life is taking.
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Changing Lanes / int_1effdd6b	type	White Man's Burden
Changing Lanes / int_1effdd6b	comment	White Man's Burden: Gavin in the end, though it's his fault to begin with.
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Changing Lanes / int_237404cc	type	Ironic Echo
Changing Lanes / int_237404cc	comment	Ironic Echo: Gavin pulls one of these after his wife tells him that lawyers in his position have to commit to "living on the edge", in an effort to get him to agree to forging the documents he needs to win his case. He repeats her words in the end while blackmailing his father-in-law into paying back the money he stole and using the firm primarily for pro-bono work. "Better luck next time!"
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Changing Lanes / int_28cd01ca	type	Disappeared Dad
Changing Lanes / int_28cd01ca	comment	Disappeared Dad: One of Doyle's primary motivations in the film is to avoid becoming a Disappeared Dad to his kids by convincing his ex-wife not to move from New York to Portland. When Gavin's selfish actions jeopardize this, Doyle gets very upset.
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Changing Lanes / int_3322dd48	type	Hollywood Law
Changing Lanes / int_3322dd48	comment	Hollywood Law: Everything from leaving the scene of the accident to turning off credit accounts without cause by themselves would get a real lawyer disbarred, not to mention prosecuted. At the scene where two firm partners started colluding with Gavin to forge a signature on a document, any real lawyer will declare "You Fail Law Forever" and walk out, not just because they're breaking four different ethical rules, plus numerous laws, the senior partners are trying to cover up the mistakes of a junior associate...by breaking the rules themselves! Seriously, anybody who pens a movie about lawyers behaving badly could at least try to read the actual rules first.
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Changing Lanes / int_4189710e	type	The Sponsor
Changing Lanes / int_4189710e	comment	The Sponsor: William Hurt's character is the Sponsor for Doyle. He shows genuine concern for Doyle throughout the film, even going so far as to bail him out of jail during Doyle's Escalating War with Gavin. Near the end he finally gets fed up with Doyle's increasingly unhinged antics, delivering this scathing commentary:
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Changing Lanes / int_61313315	type	Off the Wagon
Changing Lanes / int_61313315	comment	Off the Wagon: Subverted. Gipson orders a drink but never drinks it. All for Nothing though, as he needs no inebriation to make bad decisions.
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Changing Lanes / int_716d9138	type	Bar Brawl
Changing Lanes / int_716d9138	comment	Bar Brawl: Gipson goes into a bar for a drink. He resists the urge and retains his hard-fought sobriety, but starts a fight for no reason anyway.
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Changing Lanes / int_7335ffa9	type	Grey-and-Gray Morality
Changing Lanes / int_7335ffa9	comment	Grey and Gray Morality: Gavin is a sleazy Amoral Attorney and an adulterer, albeit a very angst- and guilt-ridden one. Doyle is an alcoholic, self-righteous loser with anger issues who simply doesn't want to lose his family.
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Changing Lanes / int_86f4f393	type	Stating the Simple Solution
Changing Lanes / int_86f4f393	comment	Stating the Simple Solution: Before threatening Doyle by ruining his credit, Gavin asks the hacker if there's any other way. The hacker responds, "Well, yeah, just call him up and be nice to him." Gavin opts to not take this good advice.
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Changing Lanes / int_aa58bf92	type	Working with the Ex
Changing Lanes / int_aa58bf92	comment	Working with the Ex: Lawyers Gavin and Michelle (played by Toni Collette) are shown to have had a fling in the past, despite the fact that Gavin is married to his senior partner's daughter.
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Changing Lanes / int_b05f64f	type	Sensei for Scoundrels
Changing Lanes / int_b05f64f	comment	Sensei for Scoundrels: Gavin's father-in-law and senior partner, Stephen Delano (played by Sydney Pollak.) Part of Gavin's Character Development throughout the film is his realization that Delano is grooming him to become an Amoral Attorney, while getting Gavin to do the majority of the firm's dirty work.
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Changing Lanes / int_b5b3599d	type	Amoral Attorney
Changing Lanes / int_b5b3599d	comment	Amoral Attorney: While Ben Affleck's character, Gavin Banek, certainly makes some questionable decisions over the course of the film, it is made clear that he is struggling with the moral and ethical issues involved. His senior partners, however, epitomize this trope, as they prove they're willing to cut any corners necessary to serve their financial interests.
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Changing Lanes / int_b7042372	type	Cycle of Revenge
Changing Lanes / int_b7042372	comment	Cycle of Revenge: When each man refuses to budge and try to see things from the other person's shoes, they get stuck in a cycle of increasingly un-diplomatic responses and revenge. Throughout the film, it is shown where each gets opportunities to end it by doing the right thing... opportunities that are, for the most part, promptly ignored.
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Changing Lanes / int_c4976d7c	type	Vehicular Sabotage
Changing Lanes / int_c4976d7c	comment	Vehicular Sabotage: Doyle Gipson removes the nuts from one of Gavin Banek's car tires as part of their ongoing Cycle of Revenge. To add insult to injury, Doyle arranges it so that the taxi he's riding in passes by Gavin in time for the former to wave, hold up a tire iron, and then let the nuts fall through his fingers, giving Gavin an Oh, Crap! moment before his tire pops off on the busy New York freeway.
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Changing Lanes / int_e0222ff2	type	Buy Them Off
Changing Lanes / int_e0222ff2	comment	Buy Them Off: After their collision, Banek offers Gipson a blank check to pay for any necessary auto repairs in an attempt to get Gipson to agree to let him leave. Gipson refuses, which causes Banek to rush off and leave his file folder containing the Power of Appointment behind.
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Changing Lanes / int_name	type	ItemName
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Changing Lanes / int_name	itemName	Changing Lanes

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Changing Lanes	hasFeature	Buy Them Off / int_e6c38e60
Changing Lanes	seeAlso	Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes	hasFeature	Conflict Killer / int_e6c38e60
Changing Lanes	hasFeature	Sensei for Scoundrels / int_e6c38e60
Changing Lanes	hasFeature	Tropaholics Anonymous / int_e6c38e60
Changing Lanes	hasFeature	Vehicular Sabotage / int_e6c38e60
Changing Lanes	hasFeature	Working with the Ex / int_e6c38e60

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