“Learning to Drive” is a charming film that I was really entertained by its characters and its story premise. I loved how director Isabel Coxet and writer Sarah Kernochan handled the characters but also the film’s ending and for me, it made the film even more delightful. “Learning to Drive” is recommended!
TITLE: Learning to Drive
YEAR OF FILM: 2014
DURATION: 89 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation 2:40:1, English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish
RATED: R (Language and Sexual Content)
COMPANY: Broadgreen Pictures
Released Dated: January 19, 2016
Directed by Isabel Coixet
Written by Sarah Kernochan
Produced by Dana Friedman, Daniel Hammond
Co-Producer: Susan Leber
Executive Produced: Eleni Asvesta, Dan Halsted, Gabriel Hammond, Harry Patramanis, JEnnifer Todd
Co-Executivbe Producer: Lauren McCarthy
Music by Dhani Harrison, Paul Hicks
Cinematographer: Manuel Ruiz
Edited by Keith Reamer, Thelma Schoonmaker
Casting by Monika Mikkelsen
Production Design by Dania Saragovia
Set Decoration by Robert Covelman
Starring:
Patricia Clarkson as Wendy
Ben Kingsley as Darwan
Jake Weber as Ted
Sarita Choudhury as Jasleen
Grace Gummer as Tasha
Avi Nash as Preet
Samantha Bee as Debbie
Matt Salinger as Peter
As her marriage dissolves, a Manhattan writer takes driving lessons from a Sikh instructor with marriage troubles of his own. In each other’s company they find the courage to get back on the road and the strength to take the wheel.
From director Isabel Coixet (“Paris, je t’aime”, “Elegy”, “The Scret Life of Words”, “My Life Without Me”) and writer Sarah Kernochan (“9 1/2 Weeks”, “Sommersby”, “All I Wanna Do”, “What Lies Beneath”) comes the film “Learning to Drive”.
Based on the “New Yorker” article by Katha Pollitt, the film was named first-runner up at the People’s Choice Award at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.
The film stars Patricia Clarkson (“Shutter Island”, “The Green Mile”, “Friends with Benefits”, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”), Ben Kingsley (“Schindler’s List”, “Shutter Island”, “Gandhi”), Jake Weber (“Dawn of the Dead”, “Meet Joe Black”, “U-571”), Sarita Choudhury (“Lady in the Water”, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1”, “A Perfect Murder”) and Grace Gummer (“Frances Ha”, “The Homesman”, “Margin Call”, “Extant”).
And now the film will be released on DVD courtesy of Broadgreen Pictures.
“Learning to Drive” introduces us to two characters, Wendy Shields (portrayed by Patricia Clarkson) and Darwan Singh Tur (portrayed by Ben Kingsley).
Wendy is a busy author, but unfortunately being busy has led to the breakdown of her marriage with Ted (portrayed by Jake Weber).
While Wendy believes this is temporary and she and her husband will get back together, her daughter Tasha (portrayed by Grace Gummer) told her that her father is ending their marriage.
Broken and distraught about her marriage falling apart, she also finds out that Ted wants to sell the house, the only home that she knows.
While Tasha tries to get hep her mother, she’s too distraught about the divorce. But in order to take a step forward, she wants to do something that she has never done in her life… learn how to drive.
Darwan Singh Tur is an Indian Sikh driving instructor. He is an American citizen but because the police are going after people without their papers, he always tries to see the good in people. Because from the country that he is from, he has seen how his people have been accused guilty and sentence in prison for crimes they have not committed.  In his case, his entire family being imprisoned.
But yet, despite being well-educated and living in America, he is dedicated to his Sikh faith and in someways starting over with his life and is preparing to get into an arranged marriage.
And one day, while working on his taxi job, he picks up a distraught Wendy as she and Ted are in a fight, because Ted has found another woman and is divorcing her. But Darwan listens to her and feels bad for her predicament.
So, when Wendy begins her independence, she hires Darwan to teach her how to drive, while she teaches him on how to impress a woman.
And through their driving lessons, they build a friendship and learn about each other’s culture but also about life and importance of friendship.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Learning to Drive” is presented in Anamorphic widescreen (2:401) and in English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1. A lot of the film was shot outdoors and those scenes are vibrant and looks good. While not released on Blu-ray (which I wished it was), for the most part, picture and audio quality is as good as one can expect on a DVD release.
Subtitles are in English SDH.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Learning to Drive” comes with a photo gallery.
“Learning to Drive” is a charming and entertaining film about two people, from different worlds, who pretty much discover themselves and develop a friendship over driving lessons.
While there are many films about people who come from different cultures or different backgrounds that fall in love, “Learning to Drive” tries not to be similar to those films and become a film stuck in a banality of romantic comedies utilizing that type of storyline.
What the film does well is taking people from two different cultures, different ways of life and showing how these two different individuals can understand each other and become friends.
And during their moment of hurt, they find comfort in each other in preparation to move on.
With two veteran talents, Patricia Clarkson’s Wendy is a successful author but is often busy with her work that she and her husband rarely have any alone time and overtime, their relationship is destroyed with no more willingness from her husband to work in making the relationship work again. They tried and tried again to no avail and he leaves her.
She’s not ready to be alone, divorced and start over but its the reality that she faces and what she fears most. Starting over.
And for Ben Kingsley, as talented as an actor that he is, I wasn’t sure if he would be convincing enough to play a Seik Indian but considering that he is a wonderful actor, he manages to play the character of Darwan rather well. As he looks to America as being a free man.
But what he sees as free from what he had to grow up in back in his country, Wendy sees how badly he is treated. From racial profiling, people giving him racist-related crap on a daily basis, she is shocked that he remains calm despite the hostilities that he has received. Because being called names are one thing, but the persecution that he and his family had to endure in their country is far worse.
And through these cultural exchanges, we get to see how these individuals who are so different, begin to understand each other.
As for the DVD, picture and audio quality is as good as one can expect on DVD. There are no major special features but a photo gallery, so it’s literally a barebones DVD rleease.
Overall, “Learning to Drive” is a charming film that I was really entertained by its characters and its story premise. I loved how director Isabel Coxet and writer Sarah Kernochan handled the characters but also the film’s ending and for me, it made the film even more delightful.
“Learning to Drive” is recommended!
