Learning to drive is a tale of two very different people in New York City who are brought together in unlikely circumstances through the medium of driving lessons. Wendy Shields (Patricia Clarkson) is a hard-nosed book critic who is dumped by her husband Ted (Jake Weber) in the back of a cab during a night out. As she struggles to deal with the sudden loss she realises how much she relied on him and since her sister and daughter both live outside of the city she is finds herself feeling stranded so she is finding it difficult to stand on her own two feet. Luckily for her she inadvertently leaves a package behind in the cab and when the good natured driver Darwan Singh Tur (Ben Kingsley) drops the package back to her she notices that he also gives driving lessons so she takes a step towards self-independence by deciding to get herself behind the wheel with Darwan as her tutor.

While the concept may not sound like the most exciting premise for a movie Spanish director Isabel Coixet brings the best out of the three stars of the movie in Kingsley, Clarkson and the city itself which looks great on screen. While Clarkson is the main feature and she gives a good performance as a woman who’s tries to stay strong while the comforts of her normal world are crumbling around her, yet she grows into the situation as the movie, and her relationship with Darwan develop it is once again Kingsley who shows why he is a legend of the screen as he plays the taxi driver/driving instructor brilliantly, bringing a gentleness to the screen despite the manic surrounding of the bustling metropolis. Even through his troubled past, which we find out about, the hassle of being a legal asylum seeker in America and the pending arrival of his arrange marriage bride Jasleen (Sarita Choudhury) his calm demeanor rarely fades and the budding relationship between the characters flows nicely from opposite ends of the cultural spectrum to a friendship where they both end up being a rock for the other through their tribulations as the film shows us that we can learn valuable lessons about relationships, life, and the value of friendship in the most unlikely of places with many superbly shot scenes around the backdrop of the Big Apple.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10