Driving Lessons

I will admit to getting this out simply because it had Rupert Grint in it with his Harry Potter mum Julie Walters. I was pleasantly surprised to see it's actually a very good film! With a supporting cast including Laura Linney (with British accent), Nicholas Farrell and Tamsin Egerton, Driving Lessons is the story of 17 year old Ben (played by Grint) as he struggles to balance a bizarre homelife with a new summer job as assistant to retired actress Evie (Walters). He has just failed his driving test and mum Laura (Linney) insists on teaching him herself. He is also a tortured poet of sorts and the girl he likes thinks he's a little odd to say the least.

The family are strictly Christian (the dad is a priest) and every other line is about Jesus and God which is a little jarring when you learn that the mother is - by any stretch of the imagination - a total bitch! Of course, goody-two-shoes Ben is a little taken aback by the foul-mouthed Evie but the two soon become unlikely friends and go on adventures together.

It's a heart-warming tale about growing up and becoming your own person, done with sensitivity and bucket loads of humour. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Favourite line has to go to Grint after his first time with a lovely Scottish lady as he leaves saying "Thanks for having me". I was close to tears I was laughing so hard.

I will say that for a die hard Harry Potter fan, the opening twenty minutes or so were a little weird given that I am used to seeing these two leads as mother and son but all is soon forgotten as you fall into the plot and get taken along for the ride.

A lovely and very funny heart-warming tale of friendship and trusting in who you are.

4/5 FOBLES