Film #19: License to Drive
reviewed April 6, 2012
Today we are reviewing the “Two Corey” classic, License to Drive. It stars a variety of 1988 film Project favorites…Carol Kane, Richard Masur, Heather Graham, Michael Manasseri, Nina Siemaszko (our new 1988 film project friend!!! Be sure to check out her interview in our interview section) and of course the two Coreys;Haim and Feldman. (RIP Corey Haim..be sure to check out our other section; Give Corey Haim a posthumous Oscar). It was directed by Greg Beeman (my ultra-nerd radar is up for his resume; Smallville, Heroes, Falling Skies, The Wonder Years, Briscoe County Jr…..I am ready to faint) and written by Neil Tolkin (who also wrote “The Emperor’s Club”, one of the inspirational movies I watch to pump myself up for a new school year along with “Lean on Me” and “Mr Holland’s Opus”)
First dear readers, the summary….The movie opens in “Savage Steve Holland” 1980′s- teen dream sequence- style (Better off Dead, How I Got into College, One Crazy Summer), on a grimy bus where the students are shackled to the floor as if they are serving time with Ben Hur on the Roman Prison ship. We meet Les Anderson(Haim) who cuts off his shackles with that famous Corey Haim half smile and frees himself from the bus, smashing through the window. We are treated to a showdown between a bus and a Ferrari, as Les jumps into the swift car that comes complete with a girl passenger. It is a James Bond type chase, complete with gasoline floods and fire. We meet the recurring “car in puddle” theme which becomes the dominant bane of Les’ existence. We find out that this is only Les’ Dream while he is sleeping during Driver’s Ed. He wakes up to the face of his disgusted twin sister, Nathalie, (Siemaszko) and a driver’s ed instructor who wants him to fail.
Les misses his bus home,having to serve time with his Driver’s Ed teacher. Luckily, he is offered a ride home on the bike handlebars of his friend Dean (Feldman),who almost runs Les down while he stares with unrequited desire at the girl in the red Ferrari. Her name is Mercedes Lane (Graham). Les’ home is filled with a plethora of quirky characters. His mom, (Kane) is pregnant with child #4 and very hungry, dishing out a mountain of mashed potatoes as her family watches in awe. His dad, (Masur) is the kind of cool 80′s father we see in many of these coming of age stories; patient to a fault, ready to dispense advice about manhood, a sleeping volcano ready to explode at the frustrating antics of their sons, but who keeps it close to their vest. His sister Nathalie is a Reagan era social activist who is dating a young Leon Trotsky looking Marxist, coincidentally named Karl. Nathalie’s world revolves around ending oppressive materialism, Les’ revolves around getting his driver’s license and a BMW. At a party later that night (which they arrive at in embarrassment, in Dean’s mom’s car) we meet their other friend, the glasses wearing, flash camera carrying, not embarrassed to show up to a party with his mom,Charles (Manasseri). We also find out that Les’ life also revolves around his deep and abiding love/lust for Mercedes Lane who is dating an older Italian Yuppie named Paolo. Upon fighting with Paolo about being at a teen party (“Mercedes, I am beginning to perspire, you know I hate to perspire”) she tells him that she has a date on Saturday with Les.
From this moment on, Les’ life is set in motion to focus on one goal, passing his driving test by Saturday. After a “computer error” deletes his failed written test(that darn puddle again) he is sent out on a road test with a delightfully sadistic James Avery,his cup of coffee, and a drive through the inner city. Nathalie’s driving test is contrasted with a smooth drive through the suburbs with the Fabio of driving instructors. Upon returning to the DMV Les is informed that they recovered his results and he failed. Les’ life is upside down as he searches for a way to put the pieces of his shattered Saturday night dream back together. It doesn’t take long for his parents to find out that he failed and ground him. The rest of the film’s central action take place on Saturday night, with Nathalie off to a protest rally that will see people arrested, Mom and Dad Anderson in between sleep and false labor wake ups, and Les sneaking out in his grandfather’s classic blue Cadillac after a call from Mercedes stirs him into action. (“An innocent girl, a harmless drive, what could possibly go wrong?”)The night becomes a mad cap romp that tests the limits of Les’ fantasy of Mercedes against the reality of the actual Mercedes. ( Graham spends much of the rest of the film passed out in the back seat or in the trunk). It is a night that tests the limits of Les and Dean’s friendship and the limits of how much damage a Cadillac can take. Through a night of failed dining at Archie’s Atomic, car hood dancing, a Sinatra tape that will not die, a car chase with the swinginest drunk driver in film history, a protest rally shake up, and near fatal fall out from his mom’s impending child birth, Les’ life is also put to the limit. What will happen? Will Les survive? Go rent the film!
The ReviewSo much to say, so little space.The synopsis length alone probably lost me some readers.Ah, the lack of attention spans in the youth of today. I adore this film. This film is everything that was great about 1980′s teen comedies. It has the quirky characters, the snappy familial dialog, the John Hughesian”one night adventure scenario” that changes our protaganist’s life forever and leaves them with a better understanding of who they are as a person. Think, “Sixteen Candles”, “The Breakfast Club”, “Adventures in Baby Sitting”. The point is, movies like this remind us how the 1980′s was not just a decade of yuppies and Reaganomics. It was the decade of youth. From MTV giving us the power to demand it be included on TV, to parachute pants and Atari’s, this decade was geared towards the power of the young. You can’t help but watch this movie and think about what it meant to grow up in the 80′s. There was an innocence to the 1980′s, a charm in our post baby boomer movies and music that still lingers on the air but is never quite repeatable. The movies about teenagers took our suburban realities and convinced us that limitations were not an option, everything would turn out all right in the end. Maybe this was pure Reagan era optimism,or pure Reagan era consumerism, but whatever it was,it was influential on our ideals. Which of us didn’t wish we could be Teen Wolf, or have a time machine like Bill and Ted, or defy the social conventions like the cast of “Pretty in Pink”, or be Ferris Bueller..or…or…or…?This film preyed on that thing we all craved, the freedom of a car and the ability to drive it. The ultimate material good of American youth for generations has been the car. So many iconic films come to mind about our love affair with the car; American Graffiti, Tucker, Rebel without a Cause. Is there anything like that first night out on the town without your parents, flying solo with just your buddies and your music? You feel like you are flying. This movie showed us our wildest ambition, a night out with the girl/guy of your dreams, a night of unlimited promise and no parents in sight. In this world, youth run the night, from the drag racing punks to the lucky few who have made it to Archie’s Atomic. License to Drive is a statement about life at the end of the Cold War and the joy of being young. The script is phenomenal in its repeatable phrases and the way the lines give every character a chance to shine. “Who would have thought a Mercedes could fit in the trunk of a Cadillac?” The cast is perfectly cast and they do great ensemble work. Even the drunk driver,(uncredited work by Henry Alan Miller) turns in some memorable work. “Keys!” You never find yourself disengaged from the film and where it is going. Is there any greater sign of this being a true Reagan era movie than the debate around the dinner table between Nathalie and Les about the need to have a car and what is represents? “Who cares what your commie boyfriend says?” I have 3 problems with this film though; 1. I love Sinatra and think it would be perfect dance on your car music. 2. Was there a sequence cut out about what happens to Nathalie after the protest arrests? No one seems concerned that she or the famous capitalist Audi are missing in the morning. I feel left unresolved, perhaps we need to ask our new pal Nina. 3. Why didn’t the construction company’s insurance pay for a new Cadillac…it seems like the perfect resolve. But, then I guess it would have had to find a new way to give us that resolve with Haim tossing the keys back to Masur and saying , “No thanks, I already have a Mercedes”..cue the Billy Ocean.(Have you not sung this a thousand times while driving?)
However, one cannot watch this movie without feeling a wave of sadness for the loss of Corey Haim. He is so effortless in his acting, so fun and full of life. When you watch a film like this and “Lucas”, and then you think about the recent comments by Corey Feldman about what was really happening behind the scenes in their lives, it becomes more amazing to witness the level of effort this kid put into his performances. In 1988, those of who didn’t know him didn’t see the tragedy ahead. For us, he was the ever smirking guy on the cover of almost every magazine…the leader of the next generation of brat packers. Who knew then, how many would be lost to our demands of them? River Phoenix, Corey Haim, etc. License to Drive is a window into one of the last times we would see Haim before the Lindsay Lohan type saturated stories broke about drug use and rehab. They would not stop for the next two decades. His shining, promising career would be reduced to a slew of straight to video films and tabloid headlines. He would be a withered Corey Haim on the reality show “The Two Coreys” .We would see the sad break down of a ruined man. Now, beyond his tragic death, we can look back on this film as a great tribute to a rising star. I like to think of the lyrics from Sunset Boulevard “Caught inside that flickering beam. Is a youth which cannot fade.” We have all grown up since 1988,but License to Drive will always contain our 1980′s youth and our dreams of that one night of freedom behind the wheel of a car. cue Billy Ocean..
10 out of 10 for good 80′s fun.
Here is what Roger Ebert had to say about License to Drive in 1988…Mr Ebert, I loved the backwards chase to the hospital.
First dear readers, the summary….The movie opens in “Savage Steve Holland” 1980′s- teen dream sequence- style (Better off Dead, How I Got into College, One Crazy Summer), on a grimy bus where the students are shackled to the floor as if they are serving time with Ben Hur on the Roman Prison ship. We meet Les Anderson(Haim) who cuts off his shackles with that famous Corey Haim half smile and frees himself from the bus, smashing through the window. We are treated to a showdown between a bus and a Ferrari, as Les jumps into the swift car that comes complete with a girl passenger. It is a James Bond type chase, complete with gasoline floods and fire. We meet the recurring “car in puddle” theme which becomes the dominant bane of Les’ existence. We find out that this is only Les’ Dream while he is sleeping during Driver’s Ed. He wakes up to the face of his disgusted twin sister, Nathalie, (Siemaszko) and a driver’s ed instructor who wants him to fail.
Les misses his bus home,having to serve time with his Driver’s Ed teacher. Luckily, he is offered a ride home on the bike handlebars of his friend Dean (Feldman),who almost runs Les down while he stares with unrequited desire at the girl in the red Ferrari. Her name is Mercedes Lane (Graham). Les’ home is filled with a plethora of quirky characters. His mom, (Kane) is pregnant with child #4 and very hungry, dishing out a mountain of mashed potatoes as her family watches in awe. His dad, (Masur) is the kind of cool 80′s father we see in many of these coming of age stories; patient to a fault, ready to dispense advice about manhood, a sleeping volcano ready to explode at the frustrating antics of their sons, but who keeps it close to their vest. His sister Nathalie is a Reagan era social activist who is dating a young Leon Trotsky looking Marxist, coincidentally named Karl. Nathalie’s world revolves around ending oppressive materialism, Les’ revolves around getting his driver’s license and a BMW. At a party later that night (which they arrive at in embarrassment, in Dean’s mom’s car) we meet their other friend, the glasses wearing, flash camera carrying, not embarrassed to show up to a party with his mom,Charles (Manasseri). We also find out that Les’ life also revolves around his deep and abiding love/lust for Mercedes Lane who is dating an older Italian Yuppie named Paolo. Upon fighting with Paolo about being at a teen party (“Mercedes, I am beginning to perspire, you know I hate to perspire”) she tells him that she has a date on Saturday with Les.
From this moment on, Les’ life is set in motion to focus on one goal, passing his driving test by Saturday. After a “computer error” deletes his failed written test(that darn puddle again) he is sent out on a road test with a delightfully sadistic James Avery,his cup of coffee, and a drive through the inner city. Nathalie’s driving test is contrasted with a smooth drive through the suburbs with the Fabio of driving instructors. Upon returning to the DMV Les is informed that they recovered his results and he failed. Les’ life is upside down as he searches for a way to put the pieces of his shattered Saturday night dream back together. It doesn’t take long for his parents to find out that he failed and ground him. The rest of the film’s central action take place on Saturday night, with Nathalie off to a protest rally that will see people arrested, Mom and Dad Anderson in between sleep and false labor wake ups, and Les sneaking out in his grandfather’s classic blue Cadillac after a call from Mercedes stirs him into action. (“An innocent girl, a harmless drive, what could possibly go wrong?”)The night becomes a mad cap romp that tests the limits of Les’ fantasy of Mercedes against the reality of the actual Mercedes. ( Graham spends much of the rest of the film passed out in the back seat or in the trunk). It is a night that tests the limits of Les and Dean’s friendship and the limits of how much damage a Cadillac can take. Through a night of failed dining at Archie’s Atomic, car hood dancing, a Sinatra tape that will not die, a car chase with the swinginest drunk driver in film history, a protest rally shake up, and near fatal fall out from his mom’s impending child birth, Les’ life is also put to the limit. What will happen? Will Les survive? Go rent the film!
The ReviewSo much to say, so little space.The synopsis length alone probably lost me some readers.Ah, the lack of attention spans in the youth of today. I adore this film. This film is everything that was great about 1980′s teen comedies. It has the quirky characters, the snappy familial dialog, the John Hughesian”one night adventure scenario” that changes our protaganist’s life forever and leaves them with a better understanding of who they are as a person. Think, “Sixteen Candles”, “The Breakfast Club”, “Adventures in Baby Sitting”. The point is, movies like this remind us how the 1980′s was not just a decade of yuppies and Reaganomics. It was the decade of youth. From MTV giving us the power to demand it be included on TV, to parachute pants and Atari’s, this decade was geared towards the power of the young. You can’t help but watch this movie and think about what it meant to grow up in the 80′s. There was an innocence to the 1980′s, a charm in our post baby boomer movies and music that still lingers on the air but is never quite repeatable. The movies about teenagers took our suburban realities and convinced us that limitations were not an option, everything would turn out all right in the end. Maybe this was pure Reagan era optimism,or pure Reagan era consumerism, but whatever it was,it was influential on our ideals. Which of us didn’t wish we could be Teen Wolf, or have a time machine like Bill and Ted, or defy the social conventions like the cast of “Pretty in Pink”, or be Ferris Bueller..or…or…or…?This film preyed on that thing we all craved, the freedom of a car and the ability to drive it. The ultimate material good of American youth for generations has been the car. So many iconic films come to mind about our love affair with the car; American Graffiti, Tucker, Rebel without a Cause. Is there anything like that first night out on the town without your parents, flying solo with just your buddies and your music? You feel like you are flying. This movie showed us our wildest ambition, a night out with the girl/guy of your dreams, a night of unlimited promise and no parents in sight. In this world, youth run the night, from the drag racing punks to the lucky few who have made it to Archie’s Atomic. License to Drive is a statement about life at the end of the Cold War and the joy of being young. The script is phenomenal in its repeatable phrases and the way the lines give every character a chance to shine. “Who would have thought a Mercedes could fit in the trunk of a Cadillac?” The cast is perfectly cast and they do great ensemble work. Even the drunk driver,(uncredited work by Henry Alan Miller) turns in some memorable work. “Keys!” You never find yourself disengaged from the film and where it is going. Is there any greater sign of this being a true Reagan era movie than the debate around the dinner table between Nathalie and Les about the need to have a car and what is represents? “Who cares what your commie boyfriend says?” I have 3 problems with this film though; 1. I love Sinatra and think it would be perfect dance on your car music. 2. Was there a sequence cut out about what happens to Nathalie after the protest arrests? No one seems concerned that she or the famous capitalist Audi are missing in the morning. I feel left unresolved, perhaps we need to ask our new pal Nina. 3. Why didn’t the construction company’s insurance pay for a new Cadillac…it seems like the perfect resolve. But, then I guess it would have had to find a new way to give us that resolve with Haim tossing the keys back to Masur and saying , “No thanks, I already have a Mercedes”..cue the Billy Ocean.(Have you not sung this a thousand times while driving?)
However, one cannot watch this movie without feeling a wave of sadness for the loss of Corey Haim. He is so effortless in his acting, so fun and full of life. When you watch a film like this and “Lucas”, and then you think about the recent comments by Corey Feldman about what was really happening behind the scenes in their lives, it becomes more amazing to witness the level of effort this kid put into his performances. In 1988, those of who didn’t know him didn’t see the tragedy ahead. For us, he was the ever smirking guy on the cover of almost every magazine…the leader of the next generation of brat packers. Who knew then, how many would be lost to our demands of them? River Phoenix, Corey Haim, etc. License to Drive is a window into one of the last times we would see Haim before the Lindsay Lohan type saturated stories broke about drug use and rehab. They would not stop for the next two decades. His shining, promising career would be reduced to a slew of straight to video films and tabloid headlines. He would be a withered Corey Haim on the reality show “The Two Coreys” .We would see the sad break down of a ruined man. Now, beyond his tragic death, we can look back on this film as a great tribute to a rising star. I like to think of the lyrics from Sunset Boulevard “Caught inside that flickering beam. Is a youth which cannot fade.” We have all grown up since 1988,but License to Drive will always contain our 1980′s youth and our dreams of that one night of freedom behind the wheel of a car. cue Billy Ocean..
10 out of 10 for good 80′s fun.
Here is what Roger Ebert had to say about License to Drive in 1988…Mr Ebert, I loved the backwards chase to the hospital.