The month of April is sometimes referred to as “the dead zone.” This is owing to the tendency of distributors to release movies seen as “average” during this time. In a sense, it’s a cleaning of the shelves before the competitive summer blockbuster movies are released at the beginning of May. Here’s a quick overview of three movies just released.

“Changing Lanes” stars Samuel L. Jackson (“Unbreakable”) and Ben Affleck (“Pearl Harbor”). The plot centers around what happens one day in New York when a young lawyer (Affleck) and a businessman (Jackson) share a small automobile accident on F.D.R. Drive. Their mutual road rage ultimately escalates into a feud that ensures neither man’s life will ever be the same again.

“Frailty” stars Matthew McConaughey (“Contact”) and Bill Paxton (“Twister”), who also directed. It’s the tale of the FBI hunt for a serial killer who calls himself “God’s Hands”. A man (McConaughey) comes forth to tell the FBI that he thinks his brother may be the man they’re looking for. The film uses flashbacks to tell the story of his disturbing childhood at the hands of a father (Paxton) who believed he was on a divine mission to destroy demons that inhabit human bodies.

“The Sweetest Thing” stars Cameron Diaz (“Charlie’s Angels”), Christina Applegate (“Married With Children”) and Thomas Jane (“61*”). The film follows the escapades of a sexy club-hopper (Diaz) who finds that she must educate herself on the correct etiquette of wooing a man when she finally meets her Mr. Right (Jane) and has no idea what to do about it. Her best friend (Applegate) comes along for the ride, and at times hurts more than she helps.