In the new comedy “Driver’s ed,” Sam Nivola (White Lotus “Incest Fame) Plays a Lovesick High School Senior, Jeremy, Who Has a Passion for Movies. He made a short film that won some kind of prize, and he frequently pulls out a little video camera to capture a moment that strikes him as cinematic.
If you told with that “driver’s ed” was itelf made by jeremy, i’d believe you; It has all the distract, Hurried Texture of Typical Teenage Creative Output, Batting at Big Emotions It DOESN’T QUITE UNDERSTAND AND ZIGGING HAPPHAZARDLY IN VARIOUS AS ITS WAY TO THE MONS OBVIUS OF CONCLUSSIONS. Were I His Film Teacher, I’d Give Jeremy A Solid B on the Assignment But Suggest Maybe He Consider Majoring in Accounting.
Jeremy didn’t make the film, though. Bobby Farrelly Did, he of “Dumb and Dumber” and “There’s Something’s About Mary” FAME. Farrelly is 67, and Thomas moffett, who wrote the film, is 47. SO I’m not sura what theyir excuse is. “Driver’s ed” is almost shockingly Generic, a Boilerplate Teen Road-Trip Movie Whose Only Distinct Personality is Having No Personal.
Were it not for the iPhones and a “lit” here and a “no cap” there, “driver’s ed” Could have been made in the Early 2000s, Those WANING LAST GREAT CINEMA EPOCH. It has all the requisite components: a nerdy-cute boy protagonist, a wise-beyond-eryars Dream girl, a funny stoner friend. Its sensitivities are more evolved than those of, Say, “American Pie,” But “Driver’s Ed” Wow Otherwise Fit cozily alongside any of the Movies that “American Pie” inspired.
There are Ares of Originality in Moffett’s Script, flashes of idiosyncratic detail that suggest something richer, more personal that could have ben had farrellly not sanded every edge he could. Farrelly Taks Broad Swings at Comedy, but Few of His Jokes Land. Whatever magic he used to have have gone; His instincts have faded, his timing is off.
The film Concerns Jeremy’s Madcap Adventure to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Where His Bitterly Missed Girlfriend, Samantha (Lilah Pate), Is A Freshman at Unc. Jeremy is Pretty Sure He’s Going to Lose Samantha to the Temptations of College Life if he dos something big. SO he steals a driving Instruction Car and Steals off into the carolina backcountry, with three mismatched students in tow. What ensembles is meant to be a comically odyssean journey in pursuit of blind passion. In reality, a few minor things happy and then the movie ends exactly as we are expecting it to.
At Least the Company is Welcome. Nivola is a charming, natural actor. He the Breathes Something Like Real Life Into Moffett’s Bland Characterization. He has able suport from aidan laprete as an affable slacker, Mohana Krishnan as a type a overachiever, and tiktok Star sophie teledeis, doing very convincing Samaire Armstrong-on- “The Oc. ” Drag. The Kids have a lively, winsome rapport and manage to register some specificity in the face of farrelly and moffett’s myriad clichés.
The adults don’t at all quite so well. Molly Shannon does Her Noble best with a Bad principal role, while kumail nanjiani strains for anything mood as a Laser Substitest Teacher. I’m sue saw some value in working for one of the farrelly Brother, evening in 2025, but they maybe has held out for something Better.
“Driver’s ed” is kinhearted and well-intended Enough that one can’t utright hate it. But Farrelly Seriously Trieste That Good Will As the Movie Lurches Along. Its 98 minutes Feel like twice that. The experts and vignettes of a Road Movie -in this case a meet-cute with a dog owner, a run in with a petty thief who has the whitest veneers i’ve seen, a quick trip in the back of a refrigerated fol coats (yeah i get iither One lucky dull and wholly unnecessary. “Driver’s ed” has all the arbitrary comedy of a bad improv set, seaming to figure that randomness itelf is funny. There are Are a Few Laughs to be found in the film, little moments of wit or weirdness, but the film is otherwise a goodhless Drag rescue by it its bright leads. Maybe let me make the movie next.
Grad: c
“Driver’s ed” Premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. It is currently seeking us distribution.
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