drive lesson be a little film that sneak up on you . what at first seem to be a bit of fluffy nonsense comedy british style be at it base a very fine story about come of age and the need for significant friendship of both the young and the elderly . writer jeremy brock ( mrs. brown and charlotte gray and the last king of scotland ) here direct his own screenplay and the result be a cohesive and progressively involve tale fill with fascinating and diverse character and each perform by sterling actor . ben marshall ( rupert grint and stand firmly on his own a a develop actor post harry potter series ) be a quiet and plain little poetic seventeen year old living with his bird watch vicar father ( nicholas farrell ) and his obsessive compulsive and rigid and evangelical do gooder mother ( laura linney ) in a home where needy people and such a the murderous cross dress mr. fincham ( jim norton ) and take precedence over family matter represent the mother be by the way have an affair with priest peter ( oliver milburn ) and use ben a her cover . sad ben be among other thing attempt to learn to drive a car . his mother be a poor teacher and decide he need professional lesson and need to get a job to help pay for poor mr. fincham need . ben follow an ad and meet dame eve walton ( julie walter ) and an elderly have be actress who be as zany a any character ever create . she hire ben and the firework begin . through a series of incident and include a camping trip evie demand they take and the two learn life lesson miss from each other nature represent ben learn self respect and self confidence and evie find a true friend who will allow her to drop her stagy facade and be the dear human be she have be hide . julie walter and always offer the fine skill of act in every character she create and find a role like no other here represent she be outlandishly wild and lovable . rupert grint be exactly the right choice for the challenged coming of age ben . the chemistry between the two be as tender a that in the classic film harold and maude . laura linney be a always a superb actress play a role quite different from her usual repertoire . and the support cast be a panorama of fine characterization . this film be a delightful surprise and one sure to warm the heart and entertain those who love fine writing and direction and acting and message . grady harp .