The first few scenes of Learning to Drive reveal the setup for the next 100 minutes: Manhattanite Wendy needs to learn to drive, so she enlists the help of cab driver Darwan. It’s a safe guess that this mismatched pair will teach each other a few life lessons along the way.
Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April) plays Wendy, a buttoned-up book critic whose life begins to unravel after her husband leaves her for a younger woman. Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley (Ghandi) plays Darwan, a Sikh professor from India who sought religious asylum in America and now struggles to make ends meet. Both are at tipping points, and their budding friendship inspires them to find joy in starting life anew. It’s a classic buddy film, complete with a little ‘will they or won’t they’ tension.
The movie is billed as a “a feel-good, coming of (middle) age comedy.” It’s refreshing to see a movie that makes no apologies for an over-40 cast, and it certainly delivered a few big laughs. On the whole, however, it treads familiar waters, including an oversimplified message about cultural sensitivity, which would be disastrous in lesser hands.
Luckily, charismatic Clarkson saves the movie from ruin. The film earns its R rating with a few taboo conversations, but it’s nonetheless a safe pick for older adults looking for an alternative to the gangsta rap of Straight Outta Compton or the 20-something angst of We Are Your Friends.
Should You See It? Yes, if you’re over 40 and prefer movies that are pleasant, not provocative. —B.M.
Viewed at Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema
