Driving Lessons - another cute coming of age film
{FILM DIARY}
Driving Lessons (UK, 2006)
Seen: Thursday, 30th April 2009 (DVD, repeat viewing)
Runtime: 98′
Director: Jeremy Brock
Cast: Rupert Grint, Laura Linney, Julie Walters
Production House: ContentFilm, Rubber Tree Plant, UK Film Council
Plot: (from imdb)
A coming of age story about a shy teenage boy trying to escape from the influence of his domineering mother. His world changes when he begins to work for a retired actress.
Scene From The Film
Or if you’d like to see the trailer it’s here. There’s also a really cute interview with Rupert Grint and Julie Walters here :)
Impressions In Short
I liked it better the second time round *grin* I mean I still don’t think it’s that amazing, but it’s cute.
More About the Film
I figured that since I’ve recently started stacking up on DVDs of quite a few of the other young Potter actors’ films (December Boys, The Borrowers, Anna and the King) I should stack up on some Rupert Grint films as well as I like him the best ;-P It’s just that I’ve seen all of his films outside Potter years ago already :] Driving Lessons I saw in the cinema in London when it first came out.
I guess for me it’s just a cute British comedy really and the main reason I like it is Rupert *grin* He does the comedy really well, which has become a sort of trademark with him. Also, he has great chemistry with Julie Walters, which is pretty important for the film to work. But I don’t think he really got “under the skin of the character” or whatever it is people say when they review acting and want to sound nice ;-P I mean all of the principle cast in the film mostly just use their own mannerisms. I’m not a big believer in the concept that actors can “disappear in their roles”. On the contrary, I rather think that’s bollocks - I always notice their mannerisms somewhat. But in this film the mannerisms were very obvious and it didn’t look like there was much effort put into characterization (looks, accents, body language etc.).
I still really enjoyed Rupert in it though *grin* What I love about his brand of comedy is that he always plays it sort of “for real”. I mean like if you look at the scene I embedded, even though it’s a very comic scene, you can totally believe in his distress. In fact it’s how real his distress feels that makes the scene even funnier. Pretty much whatever he does on screen seems honest, regardless of whether it’s exaggerated and I think the film would have lost a lot without him. It’s that honesty that carries the film.
Recommended?
Yes I think :) Maybe not very emphatically, but if you like cute British comedies then this is as good a film as any to watch.
A much more emphatic yes if you like Rupert Grint ;)
