DVD Review: “Driving Lessons”

Those Harry Potter fans waiting out the last few days before Order of the Phoenix hits screens can amuse themselves with this confection of a movie starring Ron Weasley and Mrs. Weasley. Linney works a good British accent as she plays an overzealous, evangelical Christian who gets on the last nerve of her husband, the vicar (Farrell) and shy teenage son (Grint). Part of the problem may be the cross-dressing boarder Linney’s taken in. The boy takes a part-time job working for an over-the-hill actress (Walters), who comes with the requisite number of eccentricities. Can someone say, Road trip? Anyone working the young boy/much-older-woman plot always runs the risk of comparison to the gold standard, Harold and Maude. And indeed, although Driving Lessons is charming, you do feel as though you’ve seen a lot of it before. Part of the charm is the quirky music by Renbourn and Carroll. Extras include outtakes and deleted scenes featuring Grint, and a making-of featurette.