Driving Lessons

Driving Lessons
Original poster
Directed by	Jeremy Brock
Produced by	Julia Chasman
Written by	Jeremy Brock
Starring	Julie Walters Rupert Grint Laura Linney
Music by	Clive Carroll John Renbourn
Cinematography	David Katznelson
Editing by	Trevor Waite
Studio	ContentFilm Rubber Tree Plant UK Film Council
Distributed by	Palisades Tartan/Tartan Films (UK) Sony Pictures Classics (US)
Release date(s)	United Kingdom 8 September 2006 limited United States 13 October 2006
Running time	98 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	£767,299.36

Driving Lessons is a 2006 British dramedy film written and directed by Jeremy Brock. The plot focuses on the relationship between a shy teenaged boy and an ageing eccentric actress.

Plot

Seventeen-year-old Ben Marshall is the sensitive, poetry-writing son of complacent and emasculated Robert, a vicar obsessed with ornithology, and domineering overbearing mother Laura, whose strong religious beliefs lead her to perform numerous charitable acts while ignoring the emotional needs of her own family, such as forcing Ben to deliver meals on wheels despite his having no car. Her faith does not however hinder her from engaging in an affair with Peter, a young curate portraying Jesus Christ in the church pageant she is directing.

Notably Laura's religious side appears to be completely invented to simply bully her husband and son. Amongst Laura's many random and meanspirited rulings she refuses to allow Ben to have a mobile phone (they cause cancer), refuses to allow him go hang around with people his own age and uses his driving lessons as a way to be ferried around for her affair with Peter, who appears unrepentant for sleeping with his mentor's wife. Miserable in his life, Ben writes poems for a girl he knows from church named Sarah. Whilst Ben is besotted by Sarah, she is more preoccupied with the curate who is having an affair with Ben's mother; she also calls Ben "weird" and speaks to him in a condscending tone.

Seeking summer employment, at his mother's urging, so that she pay for the upkeep of a mental paitent named Mr. Fincham she has adopted, Ben responds to an ad placed by Dame Evie Walton, an alcoholic classically-trained actress who was reduced to accepting a role on a daytime soap opera when her once flourishing career began to fade and hasn't worked since the series ended, to her annoyance. In search of a companion to assist her in the house and drive her to various appointments, Evie immediately takes to Ben and offers him the position, this delights Laura who suggests using Evie in the Church Pageant to, in her words, "give the Muslims something to think about." To her husband's shock and disgust, ironically, one of Evie's five husbands was a Muslim, something Ben forgets to mention to his fanatical Christian mother.

Ben's conservative upbringing hasn't prepared him for the adventures he begins to experience with his new employer. When Laura refuses to allow Ben to take a camping trip with Evie, she suggests they take a drive in the country instead, then swallows the car key when they find an idyllic spot for setting up a campsite. The following morning she announces she needs Ben to drive her to the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where she has been invited to read poetry. Their road trip proves to be an epiphany for Ben, who has his first sexual experience with Bryony, one of the young women organising the event; learns the importance of accepting responsibility and honouring commitments; and finds the inner strength to stand up for himself and speak his mind.

Upon returning from the trip Laura has Ben sectioned as Evie is "Wicked" and has "corrupted" him, upon Ben's release from the asylum, she condemns and belittles Ben with Bible until he is reduced to the same existence he had before meeting Evie. However when Evie comes to visit and is rebuffed by Laura Ben discovers this and in a fit of rebellion walks offstage in the pageant and goes for a bike ride over to Evie's house where the two friends reconcile.

Later Evie turns up at the Pageant and "portraying" the part of God manages to whip everyone up into a religious frenzy, allowing Ben to join her in the car park. Laura chases the pair and tries to weaponise the Bible once more, however Ben finally tells her to go away, seconds later Laura is run over by Mr. Fincham, whose mental state has steadily declined throughout the film. When Ben visits her at hospital she tells him her near death experience has made her a prophet and that god says she must have a divorce so that she can run off with her bit on the side Peter, whom the Bishop has fired; with the pair going to preach the word of the Lord in Africa.

Angered at her lack of concern for either him or his father Ben storms off, on his way out of the hospital he runs into Sarah who aimlessly prattles on about how the affair was god's will, finally pushed beyond endurance Ben tells Sarah to fuck off which shocks her. Later, following Evie's advice, Ben buys himself a tent and moves into the backyard as a way to "get away from it all". When Robert speaks to him Ben shouts at him, telling him that he and not Laura should have asked for divorce, which is when we learn that it was indeed him who asked for Divorce. Startled Ben listens to Robert explain about how much he loved his wife and tried to be faithful even when she was not. Finally free from Laura's brand of Christian fanaticism father and son express their love to one another.

Later Ben visits Evie to tell her he is moving to Edinburgh to attend University to study English. Evie is pleased for Ben and a little saddened that Ben shall no longer be working for her but is happy for him, before Ben leaves Evie reveals that her experience at the Church Pageant has re-ignited her flare and that in the last few months she has played Lady MacBeth at the Royal Theatre, Rum Tum Tugger at the theatre in the Round, the Widow Corney in the Westend in a production of Oliver!, the nurse in Romeo and Juliet and the Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago and is now starring in a crime drama on TV. Ben reads Evie a last poem expressing his gratitude for her friendship, promises to visit whenever he's home from Uni and heads off.

The final scene of the film shows Ben, finally free, walking through the park on his way home to start packing for University.

Production

In Driving Lessons: Behind the Scenes, a bonus feature on the DVD release of the film, screenwriter/director Jeremy Brock reveals he was still making changes to his script during the rehearsal period, some five years after he completed his first draft. Although the film is not intended to be autobiographical, he was inspired to write it by his teen experience working one summer for Peggy Ashcroft.

The film was shot on location in the Tottenham, Hampstead and Parliament Hill areas of London, at locations including the Parliament Hill Lido and the nearby Holly Lodge Estate. Other locations included Edinburgh and Burnham Beeches in Buckinghamshire.

The soundtrack includes songs performed by Salsa Celtica, Sufjan Stevens, Nick Drake, Richard Thompson, Ben Folds, and Ginny Clee.

The film premiered at the Dublin Film Festival and was shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, the Cannes Film Market, the Moscow Film Festival, and the Edinburgh Film Festival before going into limited release in the UK on 8 September 2006.

Cast

• Julie Walters as Evie Walton
• Rupert Grint as Ben Marshall
• Laura Linney as Laura Marshall
• Nicholas Farrell as Robert Marshall
• Michelle Duncan as Bryony
• Oliver Milburn as Peter

This is the second time that Julie Walters and Rupert Grint have worked together on a film; the first time was in the Harry Potter film franchise where Grint played Ronald Weasley and Walters his mother Molly.

Critical reception

Stephen Holden of The New York Times said the film "belongs to that hardy niche of British comedies designed as star vehicles for distinguished actresses (preferably Dames) of a certain age whose assignment is to win awards by devouring the scenery." He added, "The screwball ageing diva genre isn't the only formula guiding this stubbornly old-fashioned movie. Driving Lessons belongs to the silly feel-good mode of The Full Monty, Calendar Girls, Billy Elliot, Kinky Boots and dozens of other celebrations of Britons defying convention to become 'free,' whatever that means. Since any connections between Driving Lessons and the real world are tangential at best, it's a faux liberation: the easiest kind."^[1]

Ruthe Stein of the San Francisco Chronicle observed, "With the aid of a charmingly offbeat story and a jolly good dialect coach, the stars leave you thinking, well done. Their spirited performances help cover up glaring holes in the plot. Whenever Driving Lessons threatens to get off course, Walters . . . steers it in her direction. She doesn't so much steal the movie as borrow it for extended periods and return it with the motor purring."^[2]

Gene Seymour of Newsday said, "Everybody in Driving Lessons is working very hard to show how affecting and touching their movie can be. Indeed, the collective effort invested in this ragged mongrel of a coming-of-age story may con even the most jaded moviegoer into thinking there's something profound being put forth. Forewarned, you may find it sweet enough to fill an empty afternoon . . . Driving Lessons follows the well-worn path laid down by other, better movies while making strained, ludicrous things happen toward the end."^[3]

Ronnie Scheib of Variety said, "The forceful [performances] of the two main divas manage to more or less blast away the moral bulwarks of this otherwise conventional coming-of-age story. The fanatic gleam in Linney's eyes as she oh-so-sweetly lays down the law is matched only by the spectacle of her shuddering attempts to control her fury when thwarted. Walters chews up scenery in grand manner, nicely teetering between drunken helplessness and zesty hedonism. Grint, maintaining puppy-dog altruism, holds his own in the matriarchal maelstrom, redheadedly adorable to the end."^[4]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian rated the film three out of five stars and commented, "The movie looks like a lot of other things: Driving Miss Daisy, Harold and Maude, Billy Elliot, Acorn Antiques. It doesn't quite develop its own identity. And it's somehow inevitable that Dame Evie's hilarious swearing and opinionating fade away as sentimentality takes over. But it's a great turn from Julie Walters, and a likable film."^[5]

Philip French of The Observer called the film "dreadful" and added, "A cross between Driving Miss Luvvie and a Children's Film Foundation remake of Sunset Boulevard, it's an embarrassment."^[6]

Box office

The film earned $239,962 in the US and $990,633 in other markets for a total worldwide box office of $1,230,595.^[7]

Awards and nominations

At the Moscow Film Festival, Julie Walters won the Silver St. George for Best Actress and Jeremy Brock was awarded the Special Jury Prize. Walters was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy but lost to Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.

References

1. ^ New York Times review
2. ^ San Francisco Chronicle review
3. ^ Newsday review
4. ^ Variety review
5. ^ The Guardian review
6. ^ The Observer review
7. ^ BoxOfficeMojo.com

External links

• Official website
• Driving Lessons at the Internet Movie Database
• Driving Lessons at Rotten Tomatoes
• Driving Lessons trailer
• Movie stills