The Farrelly Brothers, Peter and Bobby, were comedy royalty in Hollywood after hits “Dumb And Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary”, among others. Much like the Coens and the Safdies, they recently split up to chart their individual careers. Peter unexpectedly scaled the heights of prestige, winning the Best Picture Academy Award for “Greek Book.” Bobby made his solo debut with “Champions” two years ago. He returns with the young-adult comedy “Driver’s Ed.” “Driver’s Ed,” in form, set-up, and execution, is an extended comedy series pilot, stuck in the ’80s if not the ’50s. However, against better judgment, the game cast and a modicum of skill and competence win you over by the end.
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The premise of “Driver’s Ed” is supremely ridiculous and improbable, but you accept that in a sit-com—a necessary artifice for the comedy to play out. 18-year-old horny Kentuckian Jeremy (Sam Nivola) is distraught that his girlfriend Samantha (Lilah Pate) has moved to UNC Chapel Hill and is not returning his calls or messages. On a lark, he decides to drive to Chapel Hill to surprise her. He does so by stealing the car from his Driver’s Ed class with three other classmates in tow—Evie (Sophie Telegadis), Aparna (Mohana Krishnan) and Yoshi (Aidan Laprete). “Driver’s Ed” plays out over the next 24 hours as a road-trip comedy—cutting back and forth between the adventures of the four teens, and the four adults trying to chase them down.
Writer Thomas Moffett’s script surgically applies the conventions of sitcoms, right down to the selection of characters and situations, with some nod to modern inclusionary standards. Thus, the two white kids, Jeremy and Evie, are the more fleshed-out characters, with the two Asian kids in support and with less screen time and development. While the inclusion is welcome, some stereotypes persist. The Asian kids were better at academics, with Aparna being the valedictorian, and the white kids more into liberal arts. Yoshi is basically a clown figure, the Joey of the “Friends” group, so to speak, purely existing as comic relief.
The young actors, however, do enliven “Driver’s Ed”. Nivola, one of the breakout stars of HBO’s megahit “The White Lotus,” is surprisingly bland as the ‘leading man’ protagonist. He’s nice-looking enough, but comes across as the pasty, ‘straight’ white guy with a whiny voice intonation. When we finally meet his girlfriend in Chapel Hill and see what she has on offer, she justifiably seems way out of his league. Laprete, as the wily Yoshi, is funny and shows promise in a one-dimensional role. The two girls, however, shine, bringing layers of yearning in their performance, and are immensely watchable. Krishnan credibly transforms from stuck-up to a more confident young woman. Best of all is Telegadis, who is droll and charismatic in equal measure, and could accomplish wonderful things with roles that stretch her. Pate impresses in a small part as well.
The B storyline in “Driver’s Ed” is anchored by Molly Shannon, the principal trying to chase down the students, and Kumail Nanjiani, the driver’s ed teacher, from whom the kids steal the car. The sit-com-like gag-a-minute script gives them plenty of room to go big, and they deliver exceptionally broad performances, far removed from the younger crew trying to find specificity in their characters. The adults, including the school security guard and the policewoman giving chase to the kids, are downright cartoonish, contributing to the televisual streaming comedy aesthetic of “Driver’s Ed.”
“Driver’s Ed” is tidy and undemanding to a fault. And while it provides breezy entertainment, its regressiveness becomes sharper relief as the film progresses. Above all, it illustrates that the MPAA’s rule classifying two uses of the f-word as R-worthy is entirely ridiculous and ignorant of how language has evolved. The f-word might be frequently used in “Driver’s Ed,” but it is yet the most bloodless, sexless, innocuous G-worthy R-rated film in some time. School kids hearing the f-word in a comedy movie? Oh, the horror.
Forget 18-year-olds; school kids are cruel, hurtful, and savvy, especially today, and they are exposed to the entire universe on their smartphones. That “Driver’s Ed” with a few language-related tweaks could have been a film from the 1950s is alarming. It isn’t so much a throwback as a misrepresentation of the casual grit and crudeness of social interaction among kids today, especially away from adults. “Driver’s Ed” is branded as a young-adult comedy; even so, it’s tame to the point of infantilization.
“Driver’s Ed” nevertheless benefits from the virtues that make the sit-coms of old so popular today. It is clean and well-constructed and always moves forward. During the thick of Emmy season, there are always complaints that modern comedies like “The Bear” have entirely skipped trying to be funny and writing jokes or punchlines. “Driver’s Ed” at least commits to that bit. It very much plays like a comedy super-pilot—3-4 episodes strung together to set up the characters before subsequent weekly episode drops. A series continuation of “Driver’s Ed” wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Ultimately, “Driver’s Ed” does win you over, and you can always watch it the way its protagonists would—while scrolling through your phone. [C+]
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