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Learning to Drive

R Released Aug 21, 2015 1h 30m Comedy Drama Romance List
67% Tomatometer 102 Reviews 58% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A literary agent (Patricia Clarkson) whose husband left her and a Sikh driving instructor (Ben Kingsley) on the verge of an arranged marriage find that each has something to learn from the other about starting life anew.
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Learning to Drive

Learning to Drive

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Critics Consensus

The story's a bit predictable, but Learning to Drive is elevated by typically strong work from stars Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley.

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Critics Reviews

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Nell Minow AWFJ.org An absolutely delightful and searingly smart take on modern life, romantic relationships and friendship. Sep 29, 2021 Full Review Nigel Andrews Financial Times Clarkson -- wonderful -- remains one of the least sung and most skilled of America's thinking screen divas. Rated: 3/5 Dec 27, 2016 Full Review Wendy Ide Observer (UK) Clarkson, in particular, is spot-on; her character unfolds gradually into the serenity that comes with hard-earned self-sufficiency. And the gentle, low-key humour belies some spiky observations about multicultural America. Rated: 3/5 Jun 12, 2016 Full Review Jennifer Merin AWFJ.org An absolutely delightful and searingly smart take on modern life, romantic relationships and friendship. Oct 12, 2021 Full Review Nikki Baughan AWFJ.org Director Coixet is a first class filmmaker... Sep 29, 2021 Full Review Hosea Rupprecht Pauline Center for Media Studies I believe Learning to Drive, for a thoughtful adult audience, could be a lead-in to a wonderful conversation about attitudes toward life, especially in the face of loss. Sep 13, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Kathryn A Really expected to enjoy this, but I just couldn't get past Kingsley's awkwardness as a Sikh. Sweet story and always like Patricia Clarkson, but this was a "whoops" in Kingsley's otherwise admirable career. In spite of his heritage and general acting skills, his body language, gestures and even accent were just off. It screamed "I'm pretending to be Sikh and trying hard to get it right" in a manner I found so distracting that the film became annoying. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Oddly mundane and intriguing at the same time. Patricia Clarkson gets left by her husband later in life and finds herself driving with Ben Kingsley in order to get visit her daughter. Small things point to larger rebirth. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review jaime h Enjoyable and made well... a good time and entertaining movie. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A little too slow and not as sweet as I thought it may be . I did feel bad for the wife at first though. I also didn’t feel the chemistry between the two leads in a sexual dating type manner 2.2 Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/19/20 Full Review Audience Member Learning to Drive has good performances and there but the movie falls a little short. The movie is not really that engaging and the ending really doesn’t satisfy the viewer. It’s a nice little flick and the script and writing is well done but I can’t help hoping for a little bit more in this movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/14/19 Full Review Audience Member Learning to Drive has good performances and there but the movie falls a little short. The movie is not really that engaging and the ending really doesn’t satisfy the viewer. It’s a nice little flick and the script and writing is well done but I can’t help hoping for a little bit more in this movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 10/14/19 Full Review Read all reviews
Learning to Drive

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Cast & Crew

Thanks for Sharing 51% 42% Thanks for Sharing Gemma Bovery 54% 43% Gemma Bovery Comet 44% 53% Comet Arthur Newman 20% 25% Arthur Newman Laggies 65% 50% Laggies Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A literary agent (Patricia Clarkson) whose husband left her and a Sikh driving instructor (Ben Kingsley) on the verge of an arranged marriage find that each has something to learn from the other about starting life anew.
Director
Isabel Coixet
Producer
Dana Friedman, Daniel Hammond
Screenwriter
Sarah Kernochan
Distributor
Broad Green Pictures
Production Co
Broad Green Pictures
Rating
R (Sexual Content|Language)
Genre
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 21, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$3.4M
Runtime
1h 30m
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