License to Drive (1988)

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

Director:

Greg Beeman

Writer:

Neil Tolkin

Stars:

Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Carol Kane

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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 (as M.A. Nickles)
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

Storyline

Les doesn't have a driving license yet, but to impress his gorgeous date Mercedes he borrows his grandpa's Cadillac for a night out... and has to witness the poor car going through more and more intense maltreatments.

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Plot Keywords:

los angeles california | driving test | teenage boy | teenage girl | teen movie | 

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Taglines:

Some guys get all the brakes!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 July 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

To Live and Drive in L.A.

Filming Locations:

340 N. Faring Rd. Los Angeles, California

Box Office

Budget:

$8,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$22,433,275

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox,Davis Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Hughes was considered to direct this film. He would have cast Anthony Michael Hall as Les Anderson and Molly Ringwald as Mercedes Lane.

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Goofs

The drunk driver obviously has little liquior bottles on him as well as a knife he uses to cut lemons but during the traffic stop he is never frisked, searched, or arrested. Think the police would've noticed that.

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Quotes

Charles: We're going to be locked up with men who murdered, and raped, and robbed convenience stores.

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Alternate Versions

To receive a PG certificate, 7 seconds were cut from the original UK video version with the removal of the line "You mustn't fuck with the Department of Motor Vehicles." The line was reinstated for the 2012 UK DVD, which is rated 12.

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Connections

Referenced in Tinseltown Comes Tumbling Down (2017)

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Soundtracks

Strangers in the Night
Written by Charlie Singleton, Eddie Snyder and Bert Kaempfert
Performed by Frank Sinatra
Courtesy of Reprise Records
by arrangement with Warner Special Prducts

User Reviews

Fasten your seat belts, this is one awesome ride!

When most people think of the seminal 80's teenage actors and films, the first thing that comes to mind are the 'brat pack' films. Sure, those were excellent films and very talented actors, but with all the focus on those actors sometimes the gems get overlooked. License to Drive is surely on of those gems.

License To Drive, one of only a few films that stars both Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, is a perfect 80's teen comedy. Shot at the height of both of the Coreys careers, while they were both still in high school, the film captures their youthful spirit perfectly. License to Drive is hilarious and outrageous while still remaining simple and easy to follow.

Haim plays Les Anderson who like every high school kid has nothing but girls and cars on his mind. But this isn't just any girl. Les has his eye on the most beautiful girl in school. The bombshell is played by a very young and beautiful, Heather Graham. When Les is lucky enough to score a date with the bombshell, the only obstacle he must overcome is his pending drivers license test so that he can take his fathers car to pick her up in.

Like most high school students, Les slept through drivers education class and when the time comes, he fails his drivers test. But the fun has just begun. Les isn't going to let this stop him. He takes the car anyways. Uh oh... this never turns out right. The night takes a turn for the worse when Les's best friend (Corey Feldman) shows up with 'a plan.' Another bad sign. Well the night just gets wilder and wilder and ends up with Heather Graham drunk as a skunk locked in the trunk of a car, police roadblocks, crazed militants running the streets and some really mean and angry drag racers to boot.

License To Drive really has it all. It's a perfect 80's teenage comedy. The DVD has loads of extra goodies including interviews with the stars and tons of deleted footage.

Fasten your seat belts, you're in for one totally awesome ride!!!