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A profoundly involving film about the unravelling of a pair of lives due
to petty anger, this is surprisingly thoughtful entertainment from big
stars, courtesy British director Michell (Notting Hill). The set-up is
simple: High-powered New York lawyer Gavin (Affleck) is trying to get
some important documents to court. Insurance salesman Doyle (Jackson) is
going to court to try to stop his wife (Staunton) from moving across the
country with their sons. En route, they have a minor fender bender. But
instead of sorting out the details like adults, they descend into an
all-out feud, getting more and more personal as the day progresses. And
soon a small incident has the ability to destroy both of their lives for
good.
Fortunately, the script never goes all Hollywood-stupid on us. Despite
some slightly contrived plotting, the themes are drawn out wonderfully
without being manipulative or obvious. And it never degenerates into a
star vehicle for either of the lead actors. This is another effective
role for Affleck (along with The Sum of All Fears), in that it doesn't
require him to be a hero or carry the film; rather, he can put his
relatively bland subtlety to fine use as a slippery guy with suppressed
pangs of conscience. Meanwhile, Jackson plays against type as a nerdy
good guy who seems to attract utter chaos. And their characters are
broadened and deepened by back-stories and fine support from Collette
(as Gavin's colleague and ex-mistress), Pollack (Gavin's boss and
father-in-law), Peet (Gavin's wife), Hurt (Doyle's AA sponsor), and so
on. There's a lot going on in the film, and yet the themes all focus in
perfectly on the escalating central conflict, constantly putting us into
Gavin's and Doyle's shoes and making us wonder what our next move would
be in their place. OK, so it all gets a bit tidy at the end, leaving
most of the repercussions off screen for us to wonder about. But by then
it's certainly got us thinking about what's really important in life and
society.
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