License to Drive (1988)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Greg Beeman

Writer (WGA):

Neil Tolkin (written by)

Release Date:

6 July 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Some guys get all the brakes!

Plot:

A teen decides to go for a night on the town with his friends despite flunking his driver's test.

Plot Keywords:

Teen | Driving Test | Automobile | Breaking The Fourth Wall | Underage Drinking

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Corey Haim	...	Les Anderson
Corey Feldman	...	Dean
Carol Kane	...	Mrs. Anderson
Richard Masur	...	Mr. Anderson
Heather Graham	...	Mercedes Lane
Michael Manasseri	...	Charles
Harvey Miller	...	The Professor
Michael A. Nickles	...	Paolo
Nina Siemaszko	...	Natalie Anderson
Grant Goodeve	...	Natalie's DMV Examiner
James Avery	...	Les' DMV Examiner
Grant Heslov	...	Karl
Michael Ensign	...	School Teacher / Bus Driver
Helen Hanft	...	Miss Hellberg
Christopher Burton	...	Rudy

Also Known As:

To Live and Drive in L.A. (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Iceland:L | Finland:K-10 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Davis Entertainment

Trivia:

Ben Affleck tried out for the role of Les Anderson.

Goofs:

Continuity: The license plate on the caddy changes from "GRANDPA" to "GRANPA" in various scenes.

Quotes:

Dean: Les, that license in your wallet, that's not an ordinary piece of paper, that is a driver's license, and its not only a driver's license, it's an automobile license, and it's not only an automobile license, it's a license to live, a license to be free, a license to go wherever, whenever and with whomever you choose.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Entourage: Fantasy Island (#5.1)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

I FEEL FREE

An innocent girl. A harmless drive. What could possibly go wrong?

Feast your eyes one of the last films that both Corey's will appear in that are of any merit for the rest of their brief careers. And this can be considered something of merit, despite the nature of the film, since they were only teen stars.

License to Drive is a movie about taking chances, though you can probably figure out from beginning to end how the movie is going to go. No less, it's good 80s fun. Les Anderson (Haim) has turned 16 and is desperate to get his driver's license. Over-confident, it is no surprise that he flunks the exam. But he figures no one would notice. So, he lies to his folks and friends about the whole thing, expecting everything will be smooth sailing until he can retake the exam.

But Les is wrong once again when his parents learned that he lied, serving up a harsh two week grounded term. But Les doens't know when to quit while he's ahead, and decides he's not going to let this little matter inconvenience him. After all, he has a Friday night date with his dream girl Mercedes Lane (Heather Graham). Hence the line, "an innocent girl, a harmless drive, what could possibly go wrong?" Everything. It all has to do with Les borrowing his grandfather's antique (and very off limits) Caddillac, a drunk date, and two friends looking for their newly licensed friend to show them a wild night. Sure it's predictable, but it's just a simple 80s comedy.