Learning To Drive

This review may contain spoilers!

This film really explores culture, American racism and a woman regaining control of her life incredibly well. i would give Learning To Drive a 5.5/10.

This film is grounded in some really intricate themes which I really want to praise. Firstly we see a woman who's marriage falls apart and as an audience it is incredible to see her work towards finding a place of security again in such a real and convincing way. Further than this we are given a lot of knowledge and perspective around Sikh culture; there's an incredible subplot around arranged marriage that really drives the second half of the film. Another strong theme was the underlying American racism towards different cultures; many times we are presented moments of racism or stories of cultural difference that are some of the best scenes of the film. I also really enjoyed the cinematography within this film, the camera moved and focussed upon different things depending upon other people's perspectives.

Ben Kingsley, who played Darwan, was an incredible protagonist within this feature; Kingsley presents a character who is inherently quite calm and charming but who can also be enraged and beaten down. Sarita Choudhury, who played Jasleen, gave a fantastic subtle performance within this film; she presented the struggles of being in a foreign country without knowing the language or the people. Avi Nash, who played Preet, was a source of a lot of the film's comedy; Nash also presented the intense problems of being a foreigner in a country that has deep fears of terrorism.

However the best performance of this film came from Patricia Clarkson, who played Wendy. Clarkson has some incredible moments of grief and disorientation when we first see her within this film. But as the feature progresses she becomes quite a funny and cynical character. Her grief and loneliness is still very much there but we can see her healing. It takes a lot to portray such natural progression in a character but Clarkson manages it with ease. Her chemistry with Kingsley is perfect, in fact the pair together onscreen is the real highlight of the film.

The film itself does have pacing issues, it drags on a bit too long or pays too much attention to subplots or unnecessary scenes. Furthermore the editing within this film is very basic and takes away from the inspired cinematography; the cutting moves in a very standard way. The music within this film falls into the background and is very forgettable; the dull tone makes the film boring in places where it should be intense.

Grace Gummer, who played Tasha, had very little screen presence; she lacked connection with Clarkson and was very dull as a character. Jake Weber, who played Ted, lacked chemistry with Clarkson; he gives quite a pitiful performance and swiftly forgotten in the grand scheme of the film.