Film review: Learning to Drive (15)

Wendy Shields (Clarkson) is the middle-class book critic who finds herself suddenly unshackled from a long marriage when dumped by her husband. Darwan Singh Tur (Kingsley) is the Sikh driving instructor and part-time cabbie to whom she turns for driving lessons, and independence. The comedy is gentle and predictable as this mis-matched duo – he patient, avuncular, warm, she scatty, liberal and seeking to recover the confidence that once ruled her character – engage in rat-a-tat exchanges about life, the universe and everything.

The chemistry between the two leads is tangible, easy and comfortable. Kingsley is a master of the deadpan one-liner and even hidden beneath the turban and beard his sense of quiet exasperation shines through in those expressive eyes. Clarkson brings plausibility to Wendy, who is forced to navigate a route through a landscape she once knew but which is now scattered with wrong turns and cul-de-sacs.

There is perhaps a quasi hiccup as Darwan meets his soon-to-be-bride in an arranged marriage. It diverts attention from the central dynamic but also strengthens Kingsley’s role as a man still struggling to find a focus for himself. Learning to Drive is geared towards an older demographic, and it shows. However whilst it is occasionally and undeniably twee it crucially never morphs into a rom-com. That would have been unforgivable.

On general release

By Tony Earnshaw