Harold and Maude with a British Twist?
The witty British film Driving Lessons (Jeremy Brock, 2006) is about a teenager who comes from a broken home. His mother Laura (Laura Linney) engages in a torrid affair as her son Ben (Rupert Grint) waits for her in the car and her preacher husband Robert (Nicholas Farrell) blatantly ignores his wife’s infidelity. To add to the drama in their dysfunctional home life, Ben’s mother brings home a man who, having run over his wife, seeks rehabilitation from the grief and trauma, in their “house of God” (as it is referred to in the film), by a less than saintly mother figure. While coping with his complicated home life, Ben finds a job helping an elderly woman, Evie (Julie Walters). A retired actress, Evie teaches him about life and women while embracing his love for poetry and reiterating that he should always be himself and not take life so seriously.
A comparison of Driving Lessons to Harold and Maude (Hal Ashby, 1971, United States) is unavoidable, given the plot structure and characters. Like its predecessor, it evens has a single-artist soundtrack, replacing the Cat Stevens music of old with the current songs of Sufjan Stevens. Driving Lessons takes considerable risk in deriving inspiration from a film as popular and memorable as Harold and Maude. The uncertainty that lingers after watching this film is whether or not American audiences will perceive Driving Lessons as a novel take on the Harold and Maude archetype or if it will be deemed a poor imitation in which they have merely replaced the young man and the old woman. Can such a similar film have the same cult following as its predecessor or will it be doomed to the dreaded verdict, “it has been done before”?
In its favor Driving Lessons uses modern British humor to create a fresh take based on an old formula. However, the film steers away from the dark humor and sarcasm of Harold and Maude, replacing it with a lighter and less cynical form of comedy. In its filmic attributes, Driving Lessons is made with a new generation in mind, using brighter colors, relatable characters, and well-known actors. Despite all this, it still had a limited release and failed to reach a mass audience. Everyone should at least give Driving Lessons a chance and decide for themselves whether it is just a new film using an old formula or something completely different. However, viewers should not expect to encounter another Harold and Maude, as those with such expectations will only be disappointed.
