Movie review: ‘License to Drive’

FloridaGator80

I have a soft spot for teen comedies, especially if they involve driving. After all, I grew up in the ’60s and got behind the wheel in the ’70s. From burnouts to doing “doughnuts,” teenagers and driving have always gone together. So, the youthful duo of Corey Haim and Corey Feldman were the right choice for a driving-themed movie in the 1980s. They were red-hot after their appearance in “The Lost Boys” (click here for my review) and so we come out to their next film the next year: “License to Drive.” And, while certainly an inferior film, you could do worse (much worse) in the genre – or many other comedies for that matter.

‘License to Drive’
(1988; 88 minutes; rated PG-13; directed by Greg Beeman and Corey Haim, Corey Feldman and Richard Masur)

THE COREYS BEING COREYS

(NOTE: I expanded this review with some extra opinion and updated links on May 17, 2016. I again expanded it on Oct. 12, 2019.)

It’s a pretty standard story: boy (almost) gets driver license then boy goes out for some fun and hilarity ensues. Simple. Direct. However, it can go well or it can turn on its side and founder like the Costa Concordia. So, when you watch “License to Drive” you’ll find that it fits somewhere in the middle, depending on how easily you are amused. It’s not great, but then again it isn’t a complete stinker and you can get some laughs and not even spend 90 minutes of your life on it.

(CLICK HERE FOR ALL MY MOVIE REVIEWS)

Co-starring in the film are the Coreys – Haim and Feldman. Of course, they’re the pair that scored off-the-chart cool points in the horror classic “The Lost Boys” and they extend the Coreys being Coreys to “License to Drive” and have a lot of fun with it. However, it’s supporting cast members Richard Masur and Carol Kane as the parents who really shine as actors.

Haim plays “Les Anderson,” who’s about to get his license along with his sister “Natalie Anderson,” played by Nina Siemaszko. He’s your typical unfocused guy and she’s the scholar. He fails the test (very funny scene at the DMV) and now the fun begins because he has a date with his dream girl and cannot drive. See where this is going?

OK, it’s a string of stereotypes (guys friends are jerks with his sister; peer pressure pushes him to a series of bad decisions; blah, blah and blah) but again they pull it off here.

On his big night out, Haim must deal with a drunken girlfriend, going to the ultra-cool drive-in in grandpa’s antique Caddy, getting caught by the cops, having the car stolen and finally having to drive mom to the hospital (she’s pregnant). Along the way grandpa’s car gets totaled and everything’s pretty much a mess at all times, but, as all such movies do, it works out in the end.

OK, so it’s your typical teenager evening as fantasized by boys and Hollywood together. Here’s a look at some of the principal cast:

  • Haim and Feldman are joined at the hip and do a competent job here with each character (remember, each was 15 here and didn’t have a license in real life). Hiam is engaging and affable and quick to get in over his head, while Feldman playing “Dean” does a smooth job of being the instigator. Hiam, a Canadian-born actor who died of pneumonia in 2010 at the age of 38, was also in “Lucas,” the werewolf flick “Silver Bullet” with Gary Busey and “Blown Away.” Feldman was also in “Stand by Me,” “Goonies” and “Gremlins.”
  • As I already noted, the best acting here is by Primetime Emmy nominee Masur, who plays “Mr. Anderson,” and Kane, who plays “Mrs. Anderson.” Just as their characters are opposite personalities, each brings a different touch to their roles. Masur, who was in “Risky Business,” the terrific serial killer-journalism flick “The Mean Season,” “Who’ll Stop the Rain?” with Nick Nolte and “Head Office” (click here to read my review), is the patient father who juggles a wayward son and a loony wife. Masur blends just the right amount of world-weariness and paternal strength to the role. He was nominated for 1984’s “The Burning Bed” with Farrah Fawcett.
  • Better yet is Oscar nominee (not for this one) Kane, who knocks out another off-beat role. She’s as ditzy as ever and does the usual odd things a pregnant woman is expected to do in a movie. However, Kane does them with enthusiasm and breezes through this role and you’re glad to see each of her scenes. Kane has had an eclectic career including “Dog Day Afternoon,” “Annie Hall” and a string of TV roles including on “Monk” and the good side of “Two and a Half Men” (you know, before the talentless hack Ashton Kutcher began stinking up the show). She was nominated for “Hester Street” and I liked her performance in a bit role as “Young Whore” in the Jack Nicholson flick “The Last Detail” from 1973.
  • You’ll catch her name in the opening credits, but it may take a while to realize that Heather Graham, who would later be in “Boogie Nights” and two of “The Hangover” films (click here for my look at them), plays “Mercedes Lane,” Haim’s love interest here. She was 17 during filming and does a competent job, but there’s not much to work with here. Graham, who’s in her first feature film here, has also been in “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” and in “Behaving Badly.”
  • Finally, there’s James Avery as the unnamed DMV test officer for Haim. While his sister gets to navigate side streets and quiet neighborhoods, Haim is tossed to the wolves by Avery, who plays the gruff, tough guy to perfection. Avery is best known for his role on TV’s “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” as well as “The Prince of Egypt” and “ Doolittle 2.”

The single funniest driving scene is when Haim drives Kane to the hospital (she goes into labor). He winds up driving backwards and passes Avery with a jaunty salute. When he slams on the brakes at a red light all the hubcaps come off and roll on sans car into the intersection. Not high comedy, but I love it.

So, when the credits roll, you won’t feel cheated in any way by the movie’s deficiencies. It’s a fun, summer movie that was released on July 6, 1988, but you can enjoy it any time. Unfortunately, tragedy marked the two headliners’ lives, especially with Haim dying so young, and you’ll have to compartmentalize that and just enjoy how entertaining they were as teenagers.

“License to Drive” came in 44th at the box office in 1988 on domestic receipts of $22.4 million on an estimated budget of $8 million, according to Box Office Mojo. It was behind the No. 1 film of the year: “Rain Man” with $172.8 million. Here are other films from that year that I have reviewed:

Other cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

© Chuck Curry and A Gator in Naples, 2014-2016, 2019.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without
express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner
is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that
full and clear credit is given to Chuck Curry and A Gator in Naples
with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Unknown's avatar

Published by FloridaGator80

Leave a Reply