Driving Lessons
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Movie Reviews of Driving Lessons
Movie Review: What a pleasant surprise!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a great little movie. Grint is coming into his own and his chemistry with Julie Walters is undeniable. British humor combined with a couple of great actors make this flick quite enjoyable. Some language might be too much for the younger crowd but as an old timer, I found it acceptable. Would recommend this highly.Movie Review: Life's Lessons from Driving Lessons
Summary: 4 Stars
This was a good movie. It was a lot different than I had expected, and I think in a good way. I enjoyed watching Ben's character grow and expand. It was easy to forget that Rupert Grint is Ronald Weasley after the first scene. It was a good story about growing up and realizing who you are and your potential.Movie Review: You're never too old for driving lessons
Summary: 4 Stars
Rupert Grint has really grown into a good actor. He has proven he can be more than just Ron Weasley. I look forward to seeing him in more films. I hope he continues to choose roles in films that are are as well written and directed as this film.Movie Review: Driving Lessons Nearly Crashes And Burns
Summary: 3 Stars
Driving lessons are tough. Life lessons even more so. Combine the two and you've got a whopping big set of obstacles to overcome.
Rupert Grint of Harry Potter fame stars as Ben Marshall, a young high schooler who wants to get his driver's license. Trouble is, though, his excessively over-bearing mother Laura (Laura Linney, The Exorcism of Emily Rose) doesn't give him much help. Her focus is on her stilted relationship with god, her failing marriage to Ben's dad, Father Marshall (Nicholas Farrell), and her growing intimacy with a handsome new clergyman.
The invasion of the Marshall home by a mentally disturbed Mr. Finchman (Jim Norton, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) only adds to Laura Marshall's demands on young Ben; she asks him to go find a job so they can help give funds to Mr. Finchman and get him back on his feet (even though it becomes glaringly obvious that Mr. Finchman has no idea what is going on around him).
The job Ben finds is with an aging and washed-up actress named "Dame" Evie Walton (Julie Walters (also from the Harry Potter film series). What initially seems like physical work for Ben soon turns to a challenge of the heart. Evie and he become close through some outlandish antics the old actress perpetuates upon him; specifically a road trip where Ben comes to terms with his soon-to-be-adult self. Can he stick with his family, including his messed up mother and distant father? Or should he plow his own path with his newfound friend Evie as a guide? Neither option sounds overly appealing but a gathering together of personal nexus points soon make a decision necessary. And Ben's choice will give viewers a great sigh of relief.
Although Rupert Grint does an okay job as Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter films, seeing him as a lead actor here was a bit tough to swallow. He is, for the most part, rather wooden and not a very animated character actor. By contrast, Laura Linney, Nicholas Farrell, and the estimable Julie Walters swallow up Grint's lackluster performance and make this film a solid flick. It is Walters specifically whom viewers will eagerly await to see again and again as she steals every scene she's in. Laura Linney does a great job, too, as a despicable and religious contrarian who spends too little time with her son and too much time on herself. Nicholas Farrell as Father Marshall does a good job too, finding solace away from his argumentative wife by burrowing into birding books ...and away from Ben as well (whom is consistently berated by his mother). The ending scene between Ben and his father is pulled off quite well and is the most powerful young Grint has in the film's entirety.
But even with these strong performances the story is slow. And since Rupert Grint is the main character and has the most screen time, Driving Lessons often fails to inspire. If it weren't for the strong supporting cast (especially Julie Walters' performance), this one most likely would've bombed.
Movie Review: Predictable Predictabillity
Summary: 3 Stars
If you're here to evaluate this film, and don't care about other movies these folks may have been in, I'm your guy. Have not seen, and do not care to see, any of the Harry Potter cinemataculars. I'm not opposed to them, I just know I don't like that brand of film making. Prefer the small, the intimate, the character focused. I'm not going to compare these performances to their well known alter-egos, cuz they ain't well known to me. I watched it because it was recommended as a good film. And while promising, the sagging cliches and completely unsurprising development left me cold.
Let's see, which one dimensional characters can we snap off the movie bulletin board and insert as-is? Well, there's the moody teenager, struggling to be a poet and misunderstood by his parents. That's a favorite, always popular among self-diagnosed poets who are (probably justifiably) underappreciated. Oh, over there's the flakey old lady, wild and ostentatious and outlandishly over the top, yet with that crusty heart of gold and a lesson to teach. She's been working regularly since at least "Where's Poppa?" There's the religious nut who, imagine that!, turns out to be a self-serving hypocrite. Haven't enough room to list all the places we've seen her before, but she sure is popular with the movie-going crowd. Better grab the sensitive conflicted priest offering New Age pablum, though it is likely what most Anglicans would offer. Don't want to appear anti-religious. Add one perky and quite pretty young girl who has friendly inconsequential sex with someone she barely knows. Gosh, there's another novel character. And for fun, toss in a wacky old man who happens to be a cross-dresser. Exotic. Controversial. Oooooh. Hmm, other than Punch and Judy, did they leave any of the Stock Characters out? I think not.
Yet with all this stereotype and canned material, the movie is still almost successful. Superb performances by everyone (except the big star, Rupert Grint, whom I found a tad bland) elevate the wobbly plot and its paper thin inhabitants. Special kudos to Nicholas Farrell, often very good in this kind of role, here, quite touching as he struggles to reconnect to a world yanked out from beneath him. Beautiful photography, with lovely details everywhere, help also. So though the plot, and the thinking, Be Yourself! Follow Your Dreams! Lose Your Virginity! are as lame (and as inconsistent) as they come, I enjoyed myself. Would never watch it again, as its innumerable flaws would be magnified in a second viewing, but certainly worth a look.