Wall Street lawyer Gavin Banek does more selfish things in one day than most of us do in two. He cheats on his wife, defends his firm’s greedy takeover of a children’s charity, and leaves the scene of a car accident — and that’s just before lunch. But he’s played by Ben Affleck, so we want him to redeem himself. Which is why we’re relieved that the guy he crashes his Mercedes into is Doyle Gipson, a down-on-his-luck but decent black man (Samuel L. Jackson). When it comes to big-budget Hollywood, there’s nothing that can save the soul of a rich white man like the plight of a struggling black guy. Gavin would never have thought twice about Doyle were it not for an important file he unwittingly gave him after the accident. Doyle won’t return the folder — the accident made him miss an important custody meeting with his estranged wife — so Gavin, before finding moral clarity, tries to ruin his life in creative ways.

As an action-packed drama, Changing Lanes isn’t unexciting, and give director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) and screenwriter Chap Taylor credit for allowing Doyle some complexity (he’s much more interesting than Gavin). But as a film purporting to be about the Big Questions — doing the right thing, taking responsibility for one’s actions — it’s heavy-handed. When Affleck starts talking in metaphors toward the end, you don’t want to change lanes — you want to change theaters.