Sun's Man On Changing Lanes

According to the old saying, revenge is a dish best served cold.

Sadly, someone mislaid the recipe because this tale of a vendetta that spirals out of control starts appetisingly enough but ends up positively half-baked.

Cocky young, high-flying lawyer Gavin Banek (Affleck) is rushing to court in his posh Mercedes to deliver an important file.

Then he has a prang while changing lanes on the busy New York FDR highway with alcoholic, middle-aged loser Doyle Gipson (Samuel L Jackson) - who is also, coincidentally, racing to court.

Gipson, is trying to get his life back together and is heading for a custody hearing that will decide the whether or not he can see his two young children.

Nasty Banek throws a cheque for the damage at Gipson before driving off, leaving him stranded with no transport.

Gipson eventually arrives at the hearing to find the judge has granted custody to his estranged wife in his absence.

Then, when the furious Gipson discovers he has accidentally picked up a vital legal file belonging to Banek, he takes it hostage - putting the lawyer's soaring career on the line.

But Banek hits back and uses his dodgy contacts to plunge Gipson into a financial nightmare.

As each man raises the stakes in turn, the row begins to get seriously out of hand. The central theme of the crazy tit-for-tat struggle between yuppie lawyer and the down-at-heel dad is eminently watchable.

But this is wrecked by a yawn-inducing secondary plot about Banek's greedy bosses persuading him to swindle some money out of a charity.

Jackson is a fine actor and is convincing as the fundamentally decent Gipson.

In recent films Affleck has shown a tendency to give the sort of solid, plank-like performances that would blend in with the scenery at your local B&Q.

However, that wooden quality actually works in his favour when he's playing Banek as the arrogant, insensitive lawyer-type that Hollywood loves to hate.

But when he suddenly changes into a caring, cuddly bloke who wants to put the world to rights all credibility goes out of the window. It doesn't help that Banek is clearly too stupid to live.

I mean, this is a guy who cons a dying, old man into signing away millions of dollars. Then he is stunned when his secretary points out it's a bit naughty, ethics-wise.

British director Roger Michell fails to demonstrate any of the light touch that made his Notting Hill such a hit.

Vital plot points are introduced with great clumsiness. And minor characters suddenly blurt out things like: "Of course, without that paper you could sue Mr Banek's firm for fraud."

And there's some truly horrible sermonising about how important it is to do the right thing.

But the killer blow is left for the ending. It is as shameless a piece of Hollywood happy-ever-after as you'll see this year.

It certainly left a sickly taste in my mouth.

HOT OR ROT: Not exactly a smash. 4/10

To see what Neil makes of 28 Days Later, They, Morvern Callar and Mr Deeds click here or follow the link below.