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Learning to Drive

Posted on February 6, 2016July 17, 2020 by Village Vidiot

  “Learning to Drive,” February 6, 2016 (2014), DVD.  We both enjoyed this small, serious, very funny film about Wendy (well played by Patricia Clarkson), a well-known literary critic in NYC, as she tries to put her life together after her husband leaves for another woman after 21 years. Rage, denial, acceptance follow, and with it the determination to learn to drive, something she’d always avoided. She is learning to drive in lots of different ways, of course. She pursues this with the aid of Darwan, an immigrant Sikh driving instructor (kudos to Ben Kingsley) who is half magic subaltern, (w)holly centered Yoda/half human with real needs and problems in his own life. Well worth watching to see their work. Neither disappoints, although I’ve never seen a New York City easier to drive in. Based on a story by The Nation’s. Katha Pollitt. Fun supporting work from Samantha Bee, John Hodgman, and Sarita Choudhury as Wendy’s sister, a car salesman, and Darwan’s bride in an arranged marriage, respectively. This one works and satisfies despite its predictable moments

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