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Driving Lessons (2006)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Jeremy Brock (written by)
Release Date:
13 October 2006 (USA)
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Tagline:
All Ben wanted was a job. All Evie needed was a friend. more
Plot:
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. | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
3 wins
&
2 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(30 articles)
Rupert Grint Among tMF’s Most Underrated Young Actors!
(From Rupert Grint - Ice Cream Man. 13 October 2009, 4:45 AM, PDT)
10 Most Underrated Young Actors
(From The Movie Fanatic. 12 October 2009, 7:54 PM, PDT)
(From Rupert Grint - Ice Cream Man. 13 October 2009, 4:45 AM, PDT)
10 Most Underrated Young Actors
(From The Movie Fanatic. 12 October 2009, 7:54 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
A young man's escape to Scotland - and from the ties that bind
more (50 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Rupert Grint | ... | Ben Marshall |
 | Fay Cohen | ... | Old Lady 1 |
| Ruby Mortlock | ... | Old Lady 2 |
| Don Wetherhead | ... | Old Man |
 | Laura Linney | ... | Laura Marshall |
| Oliver Milburn | ... | Peter |
| Tamsin Egerton | ... | Sarah |
| Nicholas Farrell | ... | Robert Marshall |
| Jim Norton | ... | Mr. Fincham |
 | Julie Walters | ... | Evie Walton |
| Chandra Ruegg | ... | Chandra |
| Ricky Champ | ... | Tough Looking Man |
| Rupert Holliday-Evans | ... | Store Manager (as Rupert Holiday Evans) |
| Harriet Brock | ... | Child at Campsite |
| James Brock | ... | Child at Campsite |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for language, sexual content and some thematic material.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
98 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
'Julie Walters' and Rupert Grint play mother and son in the Harry Potter movie series.
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Goofs:
Continuity: During the initial Edinburgh scenes, the background changes from raining to cloudy to almost clear, to rainy, all basically within the same shot.
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Quotes:
Laura Marshall:
Where the hell have you been? It's six o' clock.
Ben: I got held up.
Laura Marshall: Got held up? We had a driving lesson at four. You should've let me know.
Ben: There was nowhere to call from, if I had a mobile...
Laura Marshall: Mobiles give you cancer!
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Ben: I got held up.
Laura Marshall: Got held up? We had a driving lesson at four. You should've let me know.
Ben: There was nowhere to call from, if I had a mobile...
Laura Marshall: Mobiles give you cancer!
more
Movie Connections:
References One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
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Soundtrack:
Nocturne No 1 in Bb minor, op 9
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (50 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Driving Lessons (2006)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Censored?? | stanny8189 |
| I gave it 1/10 | southernbishop |
| favorite line | kelsey-45 |
| His mother | supersewelly |
| Laura Linney was excellent!!!!! | hannahp1 |
| Julie Walters | CuriousKlepto |
Recommendations
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Growing up is maybe a bit like learning to drive: lots of things you're not meant to do - at least when those in authority are watching. Staying on the straight and narrow can be difficult, especially if your teachers are awful.
Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter series) has had the misfortune to be born into a family with a preacher as a dad and a self-righteously over-bearing mother (Laura Linney). He breaks out of his imposed cocoon with the help of a retired actress (Julie Waters) and achieves his rite of passage. Driving Lessons is highly polished mainstream comedy that will keep you snickering under your breath all the way through your bible class. A large amount of f-words (and a UK 15 certificate) sadly prevent any 14yr-olds that haven't learnt to bluff effectively from seeing it. . . . oh, and there's a nice bit of sex, courtesy a good Scottish lass.
Ben answers an advert for a young man to help a retired actress in the house and garden. The eccentric Evie (Julie Walters) has soon whisked him off camping, and then taken him to Scotland where he Become A Man. He has to get rid of what Evie describes as the 'social autism' inculcated by his religious upbringing. His mum has been determinedly teaching Ben to drive (he fails his test) and things are not good in the parental marriage (but they are God's ambassadors and must show the world a smiling face). Ben learns that, "When the sh*t hits the fan, get a tent," although the road is long and sometimes hard. He also learns, through the power of impromptu drama and hard choices of conscience, that there is more to being a man than following the rules.
The road to and from Scotland is apparently a single track road that passes through such unlikely places Holyrood Park (which also just happens to have one of the best views of the city). But hey! The boy could have got lost! The whole movie has such lovable pacing and unpretentious detail that it is easy to forgive such quirks. The glimpse of the Edinburgh Festival, which is the biggest arts festival in the world, is achieved with remarkable panache. Evie and Ben arrive at the Caledonian Hotel and the Book Festival contact soon has him off to a nightclub and then her bed in the true spirit of Scottish hospitality. The soundtrack concocts a heady blend of Scottish folk, Salsa Celtica, Richard Thompson, Nick Drake and Chopin's First Nocturne in B flat Minor. Loosely based on the director's own experiences growing up as a vicar's son and working for Dame Peggy Ashcroft, his portrait of middle class London suburbia hits all the right notes: perfectly correct on the outside, and full of abnormally screwed up people behind the net curtains. He pokes fun at religion without ever causing offence and is supported by superb actors and a talented crew.
This is such a good movie that it is hard to say anything bad about it. Sadly the only flaw lies in the undeveloped substance of its central theme, meaning that Driving Lessons will be enjoyed to the hilt today, but too easily forgotten when its ideas are already second nature.