*** 2006. Written and directed by Jeremy Brock. London. Ben Marshall's father is a minister and his mother a woman more interested in the social activities of the parish than in Ben's life. So when Ben meets Evie Walton, an aging actress, he also finds in her an attentive friend who'll help him to become an adult. Nothing really original in this film but noteworthy performances by Laura Linney and, above all, by Julie Walters as the alcoholic Evie Walton. The satirical description of the domestic life of a religious British family is also funny at times. In short, DRIVING LESSONS is a coming of age movie worth a viewing. Not bad but already forgotten.

I watched Driving Lessons, starring Rupert Grint, Laura Linney, and and Julie Walters, this week. Though it definitely had its maudlin/trite moments, it's worth seeing for Julie Walters' great performances and to take a look at what Grint can do minus his Hogwarts wand.

Grint plays Ben, a 17-ish young man with an overbearing mother (Linney, though it's not her best work). Ben's mom, a priest's wife, makes it her personal mission to take care of all the aged people in their neighborhood, and she enlists Ben's help in caring for them. She also demands a strict schedule of driving lessons (administered by herself, of course) so that Ben can earn his license (which has been, thus far, elusive). Finally, she suggests that Ben get a summer job so that he can contribute his income to helping another one of his mother's projects - an older man who accidentally ran over his wife and is now living with them until he "recovers."

In this suffocating environment, Ben takes a job as the assistant to an aging actress, Evie (Walters). Evie is the original free spirit, mixed with equal parts vanity, insecurity, short temper, and loneliness. The two are oddly compatible, and Ben soon begins learning all kinds of things about life from Evie's quick one-liners and current struggles.

Though I thought the script could have been a bit tighter, and I thought that Grint's character could have undergone more meaningful change, I liked this film. Walters is amazing in it, and she clearly anchors the whole production. (With a lesser actress in this role, the whole film would have come tumbling down.) Grint has the hunched, insecure, shy act down pat, but I longed to see more of a transformation in him during the course of the film. Also, I would like to see Grint eventually play a character more dramatically different from Ron Weasley. If he doesn't do so, and soon, he will be relegated to this character type for a while.

Worth watching for the one-liners and for Walters' performance.

I found it mysterious that they even call the movie DRIVING LESSONS, implying that young Rupert Grint's mission in life is to get his drivers license, and then they just sort of forget about his quest, so that by the end of the movie, you see him walking up a big hill and we argued about whether or not that means he failed in life or he succeeded? Did he discover that driving isn't so great? Or had he transcended his desires and was on to something new, courtesy of Dame Evey Walton (played by the irrepressible Julie Walters just as if Rosalind Russell had never essayed the part years ago, in AUNTIE MAME, and just as if elderly Ruth Gordon had never fallen in love with young Bud Cort years ago, in HAROLD AND MAUDE).

They should box up all of Julie Walters' scenes and use them to show young actors what unbridled scene-stealing is all about. Did she ever figure out it her character, Dame Evey Walton, is actually a dame or not, actually mad or not, actually dying or not, actually talented or not? Perhaps the screenplay and director dictated a fatal indecision about all these questions, in the name of keeping us guessing, but Walters' performance suffers because she doesn't have a bottom line, just a vicious need to surprise and outglow her competition. I used to think that Lily Tomlin singing with the black gospel choir in NASHVILLE was the last word in racialized exoticism, but Julie Walters makes Lily Tomlin seem like Mahalia Jackson.

As for Laura Linney's accent, it's pretty wild! Again, people used to laugh at Dick Van Dyke acting English in MARY POPPINS but she's got him beat, plus she's evil. English Christians are probably launching a blooming fatwa on Laura Linney as we speak. Sign me up, English Christians, Laura Linney is making you seem uptight, selfish, adulterous and ludicrous all in one go.

Driving Lessons There are a whole bunch of Reviews here; not much else to write, except that the movie is marvelous and that Ben finally learns how to . . .

Buy the DVD!

K. Distler 5-16-o8

"Driving Lessons", Rupert Grint's first important movie since "Harry Potter" is a throughly enjoyable effort. It tells a story of Ben, a 17-year old Jesus-obsessed high schooler, hired to take care of a second-rate ex-actress Evie (Julie Walters). Evie is very free-spirited, and after the initial shock (and a life-altering road trip), Ben starts questioning his values, upbringing and desires, much to the dislike of his controlling mother (Laura Liney).
The themes and the plot are masterfully thought-out, and although this movie could easily be tagged as "coming-of-age" or "disrespectful-of-Christianity", it never really falls into cliches of these categories. The very subtle execution and fantastic performances promise to make it watchable and easy to relate to. Grint is amazing as Ben, boldly venturing into much more mature material than his previous efforts, and Julie Walters is hilarious as Ben's confidante and roll model. Although there are plenty of laughs, the movie is essentially a drama, handling the conflicts these characters deal with in a very serious manner. A highly entertaining and engaging film about seizing the day and making your own choices.