Movies

Patricia Clarkson And Ben Kingsley Talk Isabel Coixet’s LEARNING TO DRIVE In New Featurettes

By Michelle McCue | August 24, 2015

Credit: Linda Kallerus/Broad Green Pictures

Broad Green Pictures has released three new featurettes for director Isabel Coixet’s wonderful film, LEARNING TO DRIVE.

Chosen as the Audience Award runner-up at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival and inspired by a true story, LEARNING TO DRIVE stars Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson and Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley in a feel-good comedy about an improbable friendship.

Wendy is a fiery Manhattan author whose husband has just left her for a younger woman; Darwan is a soft-spoken taxi driver from India on the verge of an arranged marriage. As Wendy sets out to reclaim her independence, she runs into a barrier common to many lifelong New Yorkers: she’s never learned to drive. When Wendy hires Darwan to teach her, her unraveling life and his calm restraint seem like an awkward fit. But as he shows her how to take control of the wheel, and she coaches him on how to impress a woman, their unlikely friendship awakens them to the joy, humor, and love in starting life anew. (trailer)

Of special note – the movie is edited by triple Oscar-winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker.

For Schoonmaker, the film served as a reunion of sorts. Schoonmaker explains, “Having had the wonderful experience of editing Sir Ben Kingsley’s performance in two Scorsese movies, Shutter Island and Hugo, and also having had the same wonderful experience editing Patricia Clarkson’s performance in Shutter Island, it was a delightful surprise to discover how much humor both of them brought to their parts in Learning to Drive, and how Sir Ben’s stillness and quiet dignity as a Sikh was the perfect foil for Patricia’s highly emotional and wonderfully courageous performance as Wendy. They were magical together and enormous fun to edit.”