Driveways

Starring: Lucas Jaye, Hong Chau, Brian Dennehy, Jerry Adler, Stan Carp, Christine Ebersole, Raymond Lee, Jeter Rivera, Laurent Rejto
Directed by: Andrew Ahn
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Drama
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A boy (Lucas Jaye) goes with his mother (Hong Chau) to clean out her late sister's house, where they unexpectedly befriend a neighbor (Brian Dennehy).

Review:

Tim: I really toggled back-and-forth on what I thought about Driveways. I know the film received near-universal acclaim and it's a feelgood story, as it marked one of Brian Dennehy's final performances before his death a short time later. There's absolutely things I really enjoyed about Andrew Ahn's film, but in the end, I couldn't quite call this a good movie. I get why most critics really enjoyed it, but I thought it could easily have been a much better movie.

Where the film falls down for me is that it wasn't very compelling. The movie is quite short, at only 1 hour, 23 minutes, but Ahn's style is extremely understated. I get that is the approach he was going for and it does have its own strengths, but it really created this plodding feel for me. On the positive side, many moments of this film feel like real life- Ahn created something that feels authentic and lived in. On the other hand, I get "real life" 24/7, so it felt like more of the same here. These characters are interesting, but never as compelling as they are made out to be. The movie is rooted in realism, but real life can be really boring and I believe that seeped into the film as well. Ahn moves his film along at a snail's pace. At first, I was okay with it. But, by the end of the movie, it was harder and harder to try and stay focused on these characters. I wasn't able to make the emotional connections I needed to.

Lucas Jaye is really good in the lead role and gives a strong performance for someone so young. Like all young actors, there's more than a few moments where his performance felt forced, but these are spaced out. Mostly, he's really effective in this likeable lead role. Hong Chau gives a strong performance, too. She seems like a really talented actress. I think some of the issue came with the script- it feels like we didn't get enough time with her. I know she's a secondary character, but she needed to be more prominent. We get glimpses into her character, but it didn't feel like we really got enough. It's too surface-level and Chau is talented enough that she deserved more screen time and more opportunities to showcase that talent. Brian Dennehy is fantastic and I understand got most of the acclaim from this movie. I thought he looked exceptionally healthy, so I was surprised when I read that he died a short time later. His performance is authentic and I loved his world weary portrayal of this lonely man. It's a beautiful, authentic performance and it's a fitting legacy to his career. I've always liked Dennehy and don't believe he ever got the notice or respect he deserved. He had such a unique style and it felt like a real pleasure to see him give a performance like this to close out his career. He's excellent.

I know this movie is a small independent film and it's very likely the film Andrew Ahn wanted to deliver. However, it feels like he missed some opportunities for this to be truly memorable and powerful. This was only his second feature film and his relative lack of experience shows, I believe. There was a way to tell this story with a bit more momentum, a bit more urgency for the characters. Maybe you trade a slight amount of realism for that, but you'd have a more entertaining movie that would stick with audiences for far longer. This is the kind of movie I'll mostly forget about a year from now. I may remember Dennehy's performance, but the story and the characters will slowly dissipate in my mind. There's no truly remarkable moments (except maybe Dennehy's rant towards the end). It's a lot of decent moments with a few good ones mixed in. This movie is never bad- far from it- but I couldn't quite say I enjoyed it, in the end. I had a decent time watching it, but I wished it was better. I more than recognize that I depart from nearly every critic here (it scored 99% positive on RottenTomatoes). It did feel like this film was a short peek into the lives of real people, but I wanted a bit more than that. I do think this is the kind of film critics immediately react positively to, but will soon forget. For me, that's not good enough.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Minari