Diamond Brocks (diamondbrocks) All in all, the movie Driving Lessons directed by Jeremy Brock is a decent movie in my opinion, meaning that it is not bad nor is it excellent. It has a fairly complex storyline because there are a few situations going on in the movie, but if you pay attention to the overall plot and moral of the story, you will probably "like" the movie, although it is not the best movie of all time. It is a story about a teenage boy, Ben Marshall (actor Rupert Grint who starred as Ron Weasley in several Harry Potter movies). He lives in a fairly unhappy home with a father who is a priest and a mother who is overly religious, which often distracts her from her maternal duties as well as the emotions of her family. Ben is told to find a job to help take care of an elderly man that they have taken in (due to Ben running his wife over while his mother was giving him driving lessons). Ben comes across a gig with a retired actress, Evie Walton, who will pay to help get a little work done around the house. You will notice in the movie that Ben is virtually unhappy because people are always pushing him to do things in a way that is not his own. Evie, through numerous encounters with Ben, has taught him to do what makes him happy and it doesn't have to be the way other people tell you to do it. This is the overall moral to the story. I have left out a lot from the storyline, because you have affairs going on, more people getting ran over by cars, love then hate, trees and Jesus, etc. I dislike the movie for this because most of the people involved in these different scenarios, you never get to hear from again. So the story seems unfinished, in a sense. These situations may also cause you to become lost, or steer away from the main story that is being told. The reason why I say it is decent is because if you pay attention to the whole plot itself, as well as the title, it fits. The movie is literally called Driving Lessons, and while actual driving lessons are given in the movie, the metaphorical meaning behind the title is of a boy being taught to be his own man. That is the one thing that I can appreciate about this movie. I would recommend this movie to other people who like a good simple story involving only a few exceptional characters and a great moral, regardless of the rather boring or confusing storyline.

jeff-hemi60 Writer-director Jeremy Brock's British coming-of-age film about a quiet, self kept, son of a preacher and aggressively religious mother, Ben, is pushed into getting a summer job to help a man in need and found one as the assistant to an over the top older actress. Though the movie has times that expose the meaning of the film it is portrayed in what I found to be rather odd and somewhat creepy ways. The two were very lonely people who became best friends very quickly. Brock put the two in a few almost risky scenes together. One scene Evie (the actress) and Ben had went on a drive and Evie ,knowing Ben was not allowed, forced him to stay a couple nights and camp with her. They were shown in the tent and though there was no actual behavior shown, I felt that Evie wanted something more out of Ben. After the camping trip I expected what I feel is something most would and expected Bens' parents, mainly his very controlling and strict mother, to completely freak out but she did not meet my expectations. Bens' mother Laura throughout the film was a rather strange woman. Though she was a very religious woman she had a thing for the Jr. Preacher. I couldn't really understand what the importance was of that with the rest of the film. Bens' father was not a big part in the film. He was in some very key moments of the film but that was it. I didn't really understand the parental role of the film. The parents were not much of an influence to the film and I think that if they had been more like parents that the film would have been more understandable and also more efficient to get the message across. The whole film for me was very unrealistic from the way the characters where portrayed to the way both Ben and Evie became friends. I think Brock did a good job with showing his message in the movie but it did not show its self to me until the ending. Once the message was shown to me the whole film fell into place as far as why Evie had done what she did by taking Ben camping. I don't think Brock could have done a better job with the ending of this film.

amberadriana The movie Driving Lessons by Jeremy Brock left me hanging by a string. Although the movie had a good moral I did not care for it. The movie was filled with various subplots which deluded you from the main focus. The movie takes us on a voyage throughout a young boy's life to manhood. Ben Marshall played by Rupert Grin was a timid awkward teenager trying to pass his driving test. He went through various adventures to along the way. Throughout his journey he met some influential people, one in particular Evie Walton a sassy retired actress with an immense love for Shakespeare. The movie's plot was overpowered by several other subplots that took place throughout the movie. Because of this it was somewhat hard to grasp the main concept of the movie. These subplots were conflicting throughout the movie leading to numerous dead ends. So many other story lines were going on throughout the movie it made it extremely busy and confusing. As the movie progresses the true plot did unveil. This movie lacked element. It failed to give us background or detailed information on characters such as Byrony and Mr. Finch. For instance Byrony was a quick fling Ben had, they hit it off for a couple of scenes then she disappeared and there was no information stating why they stopped communicating. In the movie we are told that Mr. Finch is ill old man that lives with the Marshall's because he killed his wife, but we are left to wonder why he did so or how he became sick. The choppiness of the movie was also displeasing. The scenes did not flow properly and that became a huge distraction for me. The randomness of this movie also was extremely annoying. For instance when Evie and Ben were on the bus Evie starts going on about how he is gay, I thought this scene was pointless. I feel as if the author wanted to waste time so he put frivolous scenes in the movie in hopes of entertaining us, but he fell short. At the end of the movie we are left to wonder if Ben really did pass his driving test. Although that question remains unanswered we do know he passed his life driving test. When driving a car you go on many roads which may lead to side streets and dead ends just like life, Ben proceeded to persevere and find his purpose. Overall I rate this 5.67 out of 10.

clare-skeldon Driving Lessons is a wonderfully light-hearted yet touching comedy. It centres around the bizarre and unexpected friendship that develops between a shy and mild teenage boy, Ben (Grint) and eccentric retired actress Eve (Walters). Ben is trapped in a mundane and unhappy life that is still being controlled by his overly protective Christian mother. Eve is an old woman who still clings on to her glory days as a well known actress, and refuses to be the sweet older lady that society expects her to be. The only similarity that connects these two characters is their loneliness, and when Eve employs Ben to do odd jobs around her house, a very unlikely friendship forms. What is great about the storyline is that it has a clear message; conforming to other people's ideas of how to live your life, be it through religion, your relationship with family, or who your friends are, doesn't guarantee happiness - it doesn't matter whether your life is deemed normal, if it makes you happy then you should do it. Who doesn't love a movie with good morals? What makes this film different and, for me, quite fantastic, is how rather than being a couple of small, bland characters in a big action packed plot, it is two well developed, 3 dimensional characters in a simple yet realistic story. While some may find the plot to be boring, I think there is a well established balance between the simplicity of the storyline and the depth and intricacies of the characters. All in all a great movie, I would recommend to anybody.