Samuel L. Jackson (soon to be seen in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones) plays Doyle Gibson, a man who has had some problems in the past but is working hard to do the right thing and put his life on the right path. Ben Affleck (soon to be seen in the Tom Clancy thriller The Sum of All Fears) plays attorney Gavin Banek, a young go-getter who is on the fast track to the good life. Both men are on their way to court on a Good Friday morning, for vastly different reasons, when their lives become connected in a personal and violent way. After an automobile accident, instead of exchanging insurance insurance information, Banek takes off, leaving Gibson stranded. As the inevitable rain starts to fall, Gibson notices a red file folder, dropped by Banek.
What follows is an admirable attempt at a morality lesson. That red file folder could mean the difference between continued success and possible prison time for Banek and he tries everything to get it back.
While Gibson tries hard to do the right thing, Banek only makes matters worse by using unscrupulous methods. The film tracks pretty well for the first half with Gibson getting pushed closer and closer to the edge and Banek doing everything possible to get him there. It's when Banek reaches his "epiphany" that the film starts to go off track. It tries to show us a situation where there are no good guys or bad guys but just winds up showing how truly screwed up some people's priorities really are.
The film's heart is in the right place and it's unusual that we see a Hollywood film with such a moral dilemma at it's core. Unfortunately, director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) tries a little too hard to get his point across. The characters are inconsistent and confusing in their actions and motivations, especially Affleck's character. This guy goes from doing something that's really awful to feeling really bad about it – but not so bad that it keeps him from doing something even worse within minutes, even after a soul searching trip to the church.
A little more consistent is Sydney Pollack in his portrayal of Banek's boss/father-in-law. Pollack is great at playing those guys that are laid back and easy going until something goes wrong, then he's an evil bastard. In fact, he comes across as such an evil bastard here that when Affleck tries to go up against him, it's easy to imagine Pollack engineering the younger man's grisly death.
Samuel L. Jackson seems to keep his character closer to a believable level. Doyle tries to do everything right but life seems to spin out of control for him. If there's a truly sympathetic character in the film, it's this one. But even Doyle has his moments where you just ask yourself, "What the hell is he thinking?"
The performances by Affleck, Jackson, Pollack and Toni Collette are all good, but the film – like it's major characters – tries to do the right thing and winds up just chickening out. The ending is especially contrived and reeks of focus group influence.
As Banek tells Doyle on the road, "Better luck next time." That's how I felt as I walked out of the theater, hoping that the next film I saw wouldn't show as much promise only to be a disappointment.
2.5 out of 5 Stars, 5/10 Score
