THE ONLY LESSON OFFERED HERE IS : DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic It's not Godzilla vs. Mothra, but the slight coming-of-age story ``Driving Lessons'' does set up something of a clash of the titans, with Julie Walters Julia Mary Walters, OBE (born February 22, 1950) is an award-winning English actress and a novelist. Biography Early life Walters was born in Smethwick, Birmingham, West Midlands, England to Thomas Walters, a builder and decorator, and Mary Bridget O'Brien, an and Laura Linney providing a master class in overacting o·ver·act v. o·ver·act·ed, o·ver·act·ing, o·ver·acts v.tr. To act (a dramatic role) with unnecessary exaggeration. v.intr. 1. To exaggerate a role; overplay. 2. . It's an impossible contest to call 7/8 each performance is so aggressively irritating 7/8 but seniority and resume give the nod to Walters, who chews up scenery with a zest normally reserved for feeding time "Feeding Time" is the second sub-episode of Tom and Jerry Tales. Episode Summary Tom is working at a zoo run by Spike, who tells Tom not to feed the zoo animals. Jerry then starts to frame Tom for feeding them so he will get in trouble. at the alligator alligator, large aquatic reptile of the genus Alligator, in the same order as the crocodile. There are two species—a large type found in the S United States and a small type found in E China. Alligators differ from crocodiles in several ways. farm. Caught in the middle is ``Harry Potter's'' Rupert Grint, given plenty of reason here to hone his trademark bug-eyed acting technique. Grint plays Ben, a painfully shy 17-year- old living under the thumb of his fanatical, Bible-thumping mother (Linney). Ben's summer vacation Summer vacation (also called summer holidays or summer break) is a vacation in the summertime between school years in which students are off for 3 months, depending on the country and district. consists of church meetings and humiliating hu·mil·i·ate tr.v. hu·mil·i·at·ed, hu·mil·i·at·ing, hu·mil·i·ates To lower the pride, dignity, or self-respect of. See Synonyms at degrade. driving lessons with mom until ``salvation'' arrives in the unlikely form of Evie (Walters), one of those British eccentrics you (thankfully) only meet in the movies. Writer-director Jeremy Brock (who co-wrote ``The Last King of Scotland'') based the film on his experiences working as an assistant to Dame Peggy Ashcroft. While Brock can conjure up the feeling of adolescent longing, his storytelling leaves something to be desired. When a callous play of the terminal illness card isn't even the worst of a movie's plot developments, you've got a film whose problems go well beyond out-of-control actresses. Then again, the story's deficiencies do go some way in explaining all the flailing by Walters and Linney. Of course, for Walters, nerve-jangling tics are nothing new. Linney better watch it, though. Her performance here, taken with her annoying work in another movie opening this week, ``Man of the Year,'' suggests her presence in films may be becoming, for some, a skull- and-crossbones warning to steer clear. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com DRIVING LESSONS - One star (PG-13: language, sexual content, thematic material) Starring: Julie Walters, Laura Linney, Rupert Grint. Director: Jeremy Brock. Running time: 1 hr. 37 min. Playing: Laemmle's Town Center 5 in Encino; Landmark's Rialto Rialto, city (1990 pop. 72,388), San Bernardino co., S Calif., a residential suburb of San Bernardino; inc. 1911. The city has greatly expanded as a result of the economic and demographic growth of the southern California area. in South Pasadena; ArcLight in Hollywood; Landmark's Westside Pavilion in West Los Angeles
In a nutshell: Julie Walters and Laura Linney act to the death in this grating, coming-of-age story with bug-eyed Rupert Grint caught in the middle. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Seventeen-year-old Ben (Rupert Grint), dreading another boring summer with his mom, finds unexpected salvation in the eccentric Evie (Julie Walters) in ``Driving Lessons.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion