Somehow we missed this movie when it came out several years ago but now were able to watch it at home on DVD from our public library. It is a very nice story of people from different cultures influencing each other.Patricia Clarkson is well-known New York literature critic Wendy. One liability of her career is that she takes it a bit too seriously resulting in scant attention to her marriage of 20+ years. So her husband strays and it looks like this time he may be gone for good. Quite by accident she meets up with Taxi driver Ben Kingsley as political refugee from India, Darwan. But he is also a driving instructor and when returning to her something she left in his cab, gives her his card.Living in New York and having a husband to do the driving when necessary, Wendy never had learned to drive. Now her 20-ish daughter was moving away so Wendy became motivated, if she could drive she could go visit her.So much of the movie is Wendy's difficult task of learning to drive in New York, while Darwar has a big issue of his own, relatives back home arranged a marriage for him with a nice Indian woman so he had to meet her at the airport and take her home, then help her get acclimated to American life.Sarita Choudhury, like Kingsley a British actor, plays the role of Jasleen. Overall a very entertaining and worthwhile movie.

Learning to Drive is a metaphor for life as Wendy learns how to live life as a Divorce woman and Ben Kingsley learns to live life in an arrange marriage.That was my favorite part of the movie. There is a part of the world were arrange marriages are an average part of life and the movie respects that lifestyle.Learning to drive also showed how being harassed for the way you chose to live your life (without bothering others) is a natural part of life as well. I'm indifferent about my feelings on that but I can relate.Ben Kingsley gives a stellar performance here. Not sure if it would be as recognized like what he did in Gandi or anything like that but it's one of those performances that proves he's a worthy actor.Like Patricia Clarkson in the movie too. What the character was going though was real and down to earth and she made it feel that organic.Just an amazing movie done with some good actors.

Unless you have taken a driver's test to get your motorist's license, you probably won't appreciate the trials that the heroine endures in "Elegy" director Isabel Coixet's "Learning to Drive" co-starring Ben Kingsley. This entertaining culture clash comedy about a Manhattan book critic who struggles to obtain a driving license after her husband divorces her after 21-years of marriage and the Sikh college professor from India who fled from his native land, sought political asylum, and teaches her is refreshingly down to earth. Everything about "Learning to Drive" is believable and the characters are sympathetic. Statistics indicate that fewer young people are buying automobiles today. Furthermore, people who live in major metropolitan cities where public transportation is readily available have little use for cars. Nevertheless, Wendy Shields (Patricia Clarkson of "Dirty Harry: The Dead Pool") needs to get a driving license so she can visit her daughter Tasha (Grace Gummer of "Margin Call") in Vermont where she is working on a farm. Initially, Wendy is reluctant to get behind the wheel, but Darwan Singh Tur (Ben Kingsley of "Iron Man 3") convinces her to take a ride around in his Drivers' Ed car. When she starts cruising around the Big Apple, Wendy has little idea what she is doing behind the wheel of a car. She sets out to conquer her fear of heights, primarily by driving across a bridge that Singh Tur assures her it is nothing more than a road in the sky. During the course of her driving education, Wendy discovers to her surprise that her husband, Ted (Jake Weber of "Meet Joe Black"), left her because she was too self-absorbed with his own career. Meantime, Darwan Singh Tur is about to marry an Indian woman, Jasleen (Sarita Choudhury of "Lady in the Water"), who has been selected for him in an arranged marriage. They endure challenges as well at the chapel. "Learning to Drive" is a cute little movie.

I find this movie is surprisingly charming. It's a story we can relate to. Things happened in our everyday lives which might not be significant enough to draw attentions to. However, they touched a bit of our unintended emotions. It even took on lightly challenging subjects like racism, depression, rages and religions which all transpired smoothly into the storyline with some humors even.The story of middle aged women divorcing from their long time husbands is not a fresh subject after all. Nevertheless, most people probably could even care less of it. However, the success of this movie is it used this overly done subject and given a new lease of life. In the beginning, I was not too sure to watch it. To my own surprise, I am glad that I gave it a shot when I finished it. Lives can serve you bitter dishes, how to turn them around it's entirely up to you. The middle aged romance is no longer involving carnal desires and emotional longing. It steers the directions to work out your own issues and hold up your end of responsibilities.Patricia and Ben Kingsley did convincing performances for their roles. This movie reminded me of "Lost in Translations". I think they both share the subtleties of wordless emotions. We don't need thunderbolts and lighting to make memorable films. We need is slowly riveting awareness and self assured triumphs. Maybe I am old.