I saw this movie back on January 9th, 2002, and thought I'd give my two cents since it's coming out soon.

All in all, it was okay. Not bad. Not that great. Most of the material itself was pretty good. The way in which Gavin (Ben Affleck) and Doyle (Samuel L. Jackson) get back at each other, and each feels the effect of the others' machinations is pretty well done. Amanda Peet's one scene where she has a heart-to-heart with her Gavin, her husband, left everyone in the audience impressed, and was cited by those in the focus group after the movie.

The two main problems with the movie is first, that no cops or anyone seem to confront Doyle whenever he flies off the handle. Not when he clocks the two racist drunks outside the bar by the payphone, nor even in the bank when the loan officer tells him his account in empty and he throws the computer around the office.

Second, and far more important, is that the ending kind of fell flat. I naturally won't give it away, but it just didn't strike the right note with me given everything in the movie that preceded it, and people in the focus group also felt that way.

Some people later told me that parts of it were slow, like in the beginning, but I thought the pacing was just fine.

I should be at the Loew's Citypark Place right now, attending a sneak preview of the movie. (I still have my pass.) However, I didn't get home in time to make it out to the theater. I'll have to ask my buddy, Rick, what he and his wife thought of it. Maybe I'll get to see it later.

Okay, so I can't ask Rick how it was. I just found out the babysitter canceled out on him & Jennifer at the last minute. Well, I assume Alex and his sister went... maybe.

I heard one newscaster today refer to the movie as a movie about "road rage." Why is this? The movie doesn't concern a brawl or fight that took place on the road. Merely the catalytic event that led to Gavin and Doyle's little chess game occurred there.