"Learning to Drive" is a small film. It's a total chick flick about rather ordinary people with fairly mundane problems. It doesn't offer any momentous insights into the human condition or any brilliant morals about the meaning of life and our purpose on this planet. It is somewhat familiar and fairly predictable with a by-the-numbers structure.
It does leave several loose strings lying about. There's a subplot and theme about immigration and xenophobia that adds little and goes nowhere in particular, although it does make Darwan's life seem more multifaceted. There's a romantic subplot involving a banker that seems like it might be an important plot development, but fizzles out. There's an unexpected proclamation of love that doesn't feel earned. Wendy gives Darwan advice that we expect him to accept in some demonstrable manner, but he never does. After suffering several significant financial setbacks, Darwan surrenders one source of income.
Patricia Clarkson does a really good job with the role. However, the characters seem a little unbalanced in terms of the ages of the actors and the timeline of the story. At fifty-six, Clarkson plays a woman who has been married twenty-one years to a guy played by an actor five years her junior who looks like he might be in his mid-forties and has a daughter played by a twenty-nine-year-old actress. The actors don't fit the ages of the characters they portray very well, which is distracting despite solid performances.
Production values are adequate. There are quite a few shots of actors driving cars and they never seem unrealistic. A few jiggly-cam shots are slightly distracting, but they actually seemed to use a tripod or other camera mount for other shots. A few edits are abrupt and distracting. In general the production values are adequate.
My greatest frustration is the lack of a solid moral. Although it is an unabashed chick flick, the moral seems a bit anti-feminist at times. Girls, if you want to keep your men interested, get off your butts, improve yourselves and be more adventurous in the bedroom. And buy some sexy underwear.
Overall, a modest production unlikely to stir strong feelings in any direction. It's not very funny or very dramatic. But it offers a seemingly realistic view into the lives of some very ordinary people.
It does leave several loose strings lying about. There's a subplot and theme about immigration and xenophobia that adds little and goes nowhere in particular, although it does make Darwan's life seem more multifaceted. There's a romantic subplot involving a banker that seems like it might be an important plot development, but fizzles out. There's an unexpected proclamation of love that doesn't feel earned. Wendy gives Darwan advice that we expect him to accept in some demonstrable manner, but he never does. After suffering several significant financial setbacks, Darwan surrenders one source of income.
Patricia Clarkson does a really good job with the role. However, the characters seem a little unbalanced in terms of the ages of the actors and the timeline of the story. At fifty-six, Clarkson plays a woman who has been married twenty-one years to a guy played by an actor five years her junior who looks like he might be in his mid-forties and has a daughter played by a twenty-nine-year-old actress. The actors don't fit the ages of the characters they portray very well, which is distracting despite solid performances.
Production values are adequate. There are quite a few shots of actors driving cars and they never seem unrealistic. A few jiggly-cam shots are slightly distracting, but they actually seemed to use a tripod or other camera mount for other shots. A few edits are abrupt and distracting. In general the production values are adequate.
My greatest frustration is the lack of a solid moral. Although it is an unabashed chick flick, the moral seems a bit anti-feminist at times. Girls, if you want to keep your men interested, get off your butts, improve yourselves and be more adventurous in the bedroom. And buy some sexy underwear.
Overall, a modest production unlikely to stir strong feelings in any direction. It's not very funny or very dramatic. But it offers a seemingly realistic view into the lives of some very ordinary people.