Movie #344 .........................."Driving Lessons"

Movie #344 "Driving Lessons" is a film stolen by the likes of actress Julie Walters, whom I have been a fan of since "Billy Elliott" and "Educating Rita." Without her, the film would be nothing, in my opinion. In fact, I did not like this movie for a good 30 minutes or so --- I found it dragged, and the characters had thick accents and mumbled their lines --- and the lines I did hear were full of British idioms and I felt the film was leaving me, the audience, out of a lot of the characters' comments. But then Julie Walters made her entrance, and I didn't seem to care more if I understood every single word/phrase --- I liked her character, but I still found the film a bit dull ------however, what redeemed it was a very good third act --- I esp. liked her entrance into the church dramatic production doing a take off of Shakespeare while freeing Ben, her friend, from the apronstrings of his Mother (Laura Linney). So, all in all, this tried to be Harold and Maude, but failed. Really, like H & M the relationship is between a young man and a much older woman, but this time they are just friends, and I was happy with that. I really liked the last scene. It kind of made the whole experience of watching this film worthwhile. Nice theme!








Average rating: 3.279
I gave it 3 stars
Driving Lessons
(2006) PG-13
Looking to earn some cash -- and to get out from under the thumb of his domineering mother (Laura Linney) -- shy teen Ben Marshall (Rupert Grint) accepts a job working as an assistant to a retired soap opera actress (Julie Walters) with an unquenchable thirst. But what begins as a simple summer job blossoms into a life-changing experience. Nicholas Farrell plays Linney's henpecked spouse in director Jeremy Brock's affecting coming-of-age drama.

Genre:Indie Dramas, United Kingdom, Indie Comedies
This movie is:Understated, Quirky
Format:DVD