They should have called it Driving Ms Julie... Duracell-haired Harry Potter nipper Rupert Grint ditches his wand for this sentimental Brit-com. He’s an awkward teen suckered into a road trip with Dame Evie (Julie Walters), a drunken old luvvie demoted from Shakespeare to daytime TV soaps. Ninety minutes of comedy bickering and tear jerking appeasement later, lessons in life – not handbrake turns – have been learnt. Writer/director Jeremy Brock drew on his teenage experience of working for Dame Peggy Ashcroft, something that explains his continuing fixation with ballsy heroines (Mrs Brown, Charlotte Gray).
Like Evie’s knackered motor, Driving Lessons is a bit of an old banger but it chugs along happily enough, even without any extras. Walters grandstands in a loveable fashion (somebody make her a dame!), Grint proves he may yet have a career when Harry folds, and groovy grandmas everywhere will probably think it’s hilarious.
