Driving Lessons
By Ross Forbes, Blockbuster.co.uk

Ben Marshall (Rupert Grint – Harry Potters Ron Weasley) has a problem… his mother (Laura Linney – Love Actually) is an extremely religious woman, but she is the sort of religious character who is doing it all for show, so that the neighbours see what a good woman she is. The only problem with that is that she isn’t a good woman; she is carrying on behind her timid vicar husbands back with a younger vicar. Ben knows it and so does the father. Life is not good for Ben.

It gets worse when his mother decides that he has not given enough back into the community and he needs to earn some money. He manages to find a part time job helping out retired actress Evie Walton (Julie Walters) It is at this point in Bens life that things becomes a little erratic. The person he thought would be a nice quiet old lady turns out to be a foul mouthed, spontaneous single minded woman who is not afraid to speak her mind at any given moment.

This right of passage film starts when Ben is almost tricked into driving Evie to Edinburgh even though he has not passed his driving test. The movie progresses at a gentle pace as each of their weaknesses are exposed and healed by the other. They become close friends and they find the strength that they need to stand up to the hardships of life.

This is a solid well made drama by Jeremy Brock who started out as a writer for TV’s ‘Casualty’ and the acclaimed ‘Mrs Brown’. The story and the characters are handled well and they become three dimensional as the narrative unfolds. The important thing is that they are believable even if they are a little eccentric, but they are grounded in reality and that helps you to empathise with them. Add to your list now.

This title has been rated 340 times.