Available at Amazon.com
Writer/Director:
Jeremy Brock
Cast:
Julie Walters .Evie Walton
Rupert Grint .Ben Marshall
Laura Linney .Laura Marshall
Nicholas Farrell .Robert Marshall
Jim Norton .Mr. Fincham
Sony Pictures Classics presents Driving Lessons. Running time: 98 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for language, sexual content and some thematic material). Available on DVD: July 3, 2007.
Driving Lessons is a patchwork. The fabric of this cinematic quilt is a hodgepodge of Driving Miss Daisy chauffeuring stitched together with a Harold and Maude-like friendship. Its focal point is on Ben (Rupert Grint), a genteel teenager who is at his wits end. You would be too if you had to grow up in a strong Christian household, where the matriarch is a Jesus-loving freak. Well, maybe not a freak. Eccentric? To put it bluntly, except for church functions probably the only other time she praises the Lord’s name is while making love — with someone other than her husband. Oh, and her husband is a preacher.
Harlequin!
But such a sin is a non-issue for the most part. This is a film about coming of age with the help of an older woman. And no, not in a Graduate sort of way. Ben’s shyness is paired with a woman who has a lust for life. Played by Julie Walters, Evie Walton is an aging actress who has reached the point where close-ups and callbacks are a rarity. So, she lives alone, hidden away in her house.
It isn’t until Ben answers the retired actress’s advertisement about needing a young man to work around the house and tend to the garden that the film begins to take shape; it is the catalyst to him becoming a man. Together with Evie, Ben’s strong religious upbringing falls to the wayside and not a moment too soon. Traversing the countryside of Scotland, he acts as her chauffer despite not having a license, and they spend much of the journey talking about life. Evie’s a chatterbox with the mouth of a sailor, both in what she drinks and says. Ben is the casual observer, of what it is like to be free and without the constraints of religious indoctrination.
Lessons is a comedy from across the pond, and as such the humor is of varying degrees. The strongest contributor of creating laughs is Julie Walters. A veteran of British productions, and with an Oscar nomination to boot (Billy Elliot), Walters plays the “washed-up actress with a burning desire” splendidly. Her personality is zany, outlandish and actually has heart.
Laura Linney, who seems to be one of the hardest working actresses today along with Maria Bello and Rachel Weisz, is a great actress, but here as the obsessive compulsive evangelical mother, she seems out of place. While it is taking a risk, her performance is grating and wears thin on screen.
Of all the leads, Grint is the wild card. Up until now I, like most, only know him from the Harry Potter films as Harry’s best friend Ron Weasley. As Ben Marshall, Grint still has that awkwardness about him. But when he is paired with Walters, there’s chemistry. Grint is able to show that he’s more than just a wizard in training. Here, he learns what it takes to be a man.
I must make mention of a secondary character in this ensemble. Jim Norton is Mr. Fincham, a man who has taken up residence in the Marshall home. Not much is known about him, only that he is mute, cross-dresses, and has been known to commit murder from time to time. Oh, yeah, that’s normal.
The addition of such character adds untimely laughs, but doesn’t bring much else. It’s as if writer/director Jeremy Brock (Mrs. Brown, The Last King of Scotland) has been given carte blanche and decided to flip through his Rolodex of ideas and see what works. That’s not to imply that all his ideas are bad, or that Driving Lessons is a bad movie. It’s just not a very good one. Like some of the abovementioned films, it has plenty of heart, but the ground is well traveled and all too familiar.
A/V QUALITY CONTROL
Driving Lessons is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. Jeremy Brock’s shot selection, especially the Scottish scenery, looks brilliant. Full of vivid colors and rich blacks, this is definitely a film that you can tell was shot within the past year. No noticeable disparities in the transfer, either. As a character-driven dramedy, don’t expect to be wowed by the Dolby Digital 5.1 sound track. Lots of chattering, not enough explosions to fully comprehend the 5.1 track. Included with the track are optional French and Spanish subtitles.
SPECIAL FEATURES
With only a miniscule showing in art house theatres in the States, it was pretty much a given that Driving Lessons wouldn’t be a laden with supplements. What we get is a 17-minute making-of full of talking heads and behind-the-scenes footage. Some of the comments by Brock seem suited for that of an audio commentary, but since one of those is not included we’ll take what we can get. Also included are four deleted scenes, nearly seven minutes of outtakes, and trailers for other Sony Pictures home releases, including: Offside, The Italian, Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles, House of Flying Daggers, Riding Giants, and Dogtown & Z-Boys.
THE INSIDE PULSE
What we have here is a heart-warming tale in the tradition of Harold and Maude, only not as memorable or classic. Driving Lessons is one of those films where if it was raining outside, and I just happen to find it playing on television, I would sit down and watch it. The biggest selling factor is Rupert Grint and whether he can succeed in a movie not featuring wizards or mythical creatures. Grint shows promise and it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.
