‘Learning to Drive’ stays in the middle of the road

  • By Brian Miller Seattle Weekly
  • Wednesday, September 2, 2015 4:08pm
  • LifeGo-See-Do

It’s impossible to summon any animus against Patricia Clarkson, no matter the quality of her material. Even while playing an angry, jilted, selfish New Yorker suddenly confronted by her lack of a chauffeur (i.e., her cheatin’ husband), she’s still Patricia Clarkson.

This is a very small film, greatly padded from an old New Yorker essay by Katha Pollitt, and it doesn’t leave much elbow room for Clarkson (as heroine Wendy) and Ben Kingsley (as her Sikh driving instructor Darwan) to navigate. Both stars generate enormous goodwill, even while you worry about Kingsley going back to the South Asian well — kindly accent, sage wisdom, infinite forbearance, but no loincloth or Partition.

You can be pretty sure that screenwriter Sarah Kernochan’s instructions were: “Driving Miss Daisy,” with Gandhi instead of Morgan Freeman. (Spanish director Isabel Coixet, of “My Life Without Me,” doesn’t add any twists.)

What’s been layered onto Pollitt’s 2002 account — pre-Uber and Lyft, we must point out — is backstory for Darwan, a former political prisoner about to undertake an arranged marriage with a fellow Sikh (Sarita Choudhury, from Mississippi Masala) he’s never met. Thus, in predictable script-o-matic fashion, one relationship forms while the other unravels. (Wendy spends way too much time confronting and obsessing over the ex, played with suitably frail narcissism by Jake Weber.)

True, Clarkson is an awful lot of fun when mad and spitting expletives left and right. And we’d rather see more of her midlife dating misadventures; this is a movie that would be measurably improved by some cheap Tindr and eHarmony jokes.

Its heart, though, is the Brief Encounter tension between the pious, honorable instructor and his slightly naughty student. Wendy’s got a mouth on her, nothing like the demure picture brides Darwan’s sister keeps recommending from India. But this is not the movie to push him — or formula — out of the comfort zone.

So in its comfortably therapeutic, How Wendy Got Her Groove Back kind of way, the picture works — no better or worse than a Lifetime original. Sporting a long black wig (and/or turban), Kingsley seems more aloof from the story, ever so slightly bored with Darwan’s virtue. (Every lesson is a lesson, chock-full of parables.) By contrast, Clarkson dives right in with her usual gusto. She acts the way she curses: direct, passionate, and signaling quiet self-delight at being able to fly off the handle. What next — flying lessons? Sign her up.

“Learning to Drive”

Rating: R, for language and sexual content)

Showing: Seven Gables

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.