This is the stupidest movie I've seen in a very long time. All the characters, everything that happens to them, everything they do, and every word they speak is irritating, absurd and completely unbelievable.Rupert Grint and Nicholas Farrell are the only actors who show any restraint at all - Farrell probably from a strong innate sense of proportion and Grint probably from inexperience. But both Laura Linney and Julie Walters are so hammy that they made me cringe every time they opened their mouths.It's not their fault; it's the writer-director Jeremy Brock, whose moronic screenplay and ham-fisted direction are so annoying that I'm amazed to see that he continued to get work after making this awful movie. I haven't seen any of his other movies, and after suffering through this one I'll make sure I never do.

There were certain parts and pieces in the movie "Driving Lessons" that I was not thrilled by, but overall, I did enjoy this movie. The parts of the movie that intrigued me the most were the excellent actors and actresses, the random humor, and the beautiful scenery. I also enjoyed the overall plot and idea of this movie. I really liked how perfectly each actor or actress matched his or her part. Rupert Grint did a wonderful job playing his character, Ben. I thought Grint fit the image of the "awkward teenager" and did a great job expressing how each awkward teenager feels about certain situations. For example, when Ben senses that something between his parents is not quite right, he shuts down and keeps to himself. I think this represents how most teenage boys are. Grint also showed his acting skills when Ben was sharing his love poem to Sara. He showed how boys this age are a little unsure of themselves and how to talk to girls. Laura Linney, who played Ben's mother, also did an exceptional job portraying the stereotypical "controlling mom". She did this by acting as if she controlled the house and everything that goes on in it. She bosses Ben around to do things for her, like helping out at the church and even getting her some groceries. She also shows this controlling mom figure by lying and shutting the door on Evie, the woman who Ben has been keeping company. I think Linney was a great choice for the unpleasant mother of Ben role. The random spurts of humor in "Driving Lessons" were another entertaining part that grabbed my attention. Evie, played by Julie Walters, is the somewhat kooky older lady that Ben keeps company. She plays the most humorous role in this film with her funny yet a little inappropriate comments. I think the director, Jeremy Brock, made a smart move when adding Evie's funny sayings throughout the movie. The humor was unusual and not similar to other comedy movies, which is why I enjoyed it. For example, when Evie swallowed the car key and told Ben "..the key will be back with us in the morning! I'm as regular as clock work." was humorous and grabbed my attention. Lastly, the overall idea and plot was something I liked throughout this movie. I loved the fact that they shot this film in England because it made the scenery like something I have never seen before. I also thought that the plot of the movie was very interesting and kept me wanting for more after each scene. I was very intrigued to see how Ben was going to be after taking care of Evie. I thought it was a good idea to incorporate the encounter of Evie and Laura, because they were the two opposites throughout the film. I also liked how Ben driving Evie everywhere related back to the beginning of the story, which was about his driving lessons.

The movie, Driving Lessons, directed by Jeremy Block, is a coming of age story of a boy named Ben Marshall. Ben Marshall is played by Rupert Grint, who plays Ronald Weasley in the Harry Potter movies. The characters of the movie are all unique, but some are over the top. The mom in the movie is very overprotective and also extremely religious. The movie had some great character development and did have a message and a very apparent theme. The soundtrack also fit well with the movie. Even though this movie will not go on my top ten list, I thought the movie overall was not too bad. The character of Ben Marshall had the most character development. At the beginning of the movie he was not a very outgoing person and only did what his mother told him to do. His mom seemed to be running his life. When Ben meets Evie Walten he learns that he can make his own decisions and decide what he really wants to do with his life. He learns to have fun and finds adventure. This helps so that by the end of the movie he is able to make the decision of going to college and what job he wants to have. The soundtrack to this movie is also great. The beginning of the movie has music that is more mellow and relaxed. This helps to reflect the idea that Ben is not rebelling in his life at the moment. He is just following the orders of his mom. As the movie progresses and Ben starts becoming closer to Evie, the music becomes more upbeat and showing that he is making more of his own decisions and starting to become his own person. The song at the end of the movie is a great choice, because it ties into the idea of the change in Ben. This song shows that he is starting a new faze in his life and the start of a new life for Ben.This movie wasn't perfect. Some parts of the movie were rushed. This is especially true at the end of the movie. Everything was rushed to make the movie come to a close. Some aspects of the plot also could be confusing. The character of Mr. Fincher is a character I felt did not have to be there. Then, they tried to give him some sort of input, but it really just did not make sense, and took away from the overall theme of the movieOverall, the theme of the movie I felt was prominent without being too obvious. The growth of the main character was enough to make the idea of a coming of age story apparent. It was never pushing the theme. It was just noticeable to the viewer. This helped to make the movie an overall decent movie. I wouldn't watch this movie a lot, but it is a great movie to have watched once.

Delando Johnson Mr. Faziani English 1 November 13, 2013Driving Lessons I honestly don't like the movie Driving Lessons. I feel that is was dry and confusing. I also feel that the movie was not well put together. In my opinion Jeremy Brock left the reader out on a limb too much. He left too much of the movie up to the viewer's interpretation and it gets confusing. The movie has a good moral value and it had a good plot it was just too much. I feel that he could have focused on one thing or explained other things more. For example, what is Mr. Finchem's condition and how he got that way. We see him gone crazy but as a viewer we can't help but wonder what his problem is and why he eventually hit Ben's mother. Even at the end we see Ben's growth but we are still left out in the dry with other characters and there are question left unanswered. For example, Ben's mother's relationship, where the characters go from there, Mr. Finchem's situation, etc.The actors did a god job in my opinion. You could tell what type of character we were supposed to get from the actors. For example, Bens' mother, you could tell she was bad from how she spoke and her actions. I feel that Eve was a very good character also because she brought the conflict to the story and the solution. She made Ben disobey his mother but also helped him find himself. This is Ben's story and he needed Eve to grow. Jeremy Brock did a good job of intertwining the title of the movie with how the movie plays out. He named it driving lessons and he showed us how Ben's driving lessons affected the whole movie. For example, he was driving his mother to cheat on his father which caused conflict with his family. Also, he was driving Eve around and working for her which caused conflict with his mother. But ultimately the thing he was having driving lessons on was his life. Ben was learning how to be a man and control his life the way he wanted. Eve helped him grow as a person. She helped him break out of the shell he was in and helped him make decisions that were best for him. I feel that that the mother was also another good character. I feel she provided the conflict in the story with her cheating, her strictness and her being a hypocrite. Jeremy Brock did a good job of showing how bad she was and how she affected Ben's life. Ben's mother was the reason he was like a scared boy. She manipulated him and used her power as his mother to make him do things she wanted without caring if that's what he wanted to do. She didn't allow him to have fun, or be himself because she was too over protective. She also manipulated the father and how the father acted with her reflected with Ben.