High School senior Jeremy steals the school’s driver’s ed car, to surprise his college-freshman girlfriend and stop her from thinking about breaking up. It’s a long road to his sweetheart’s college and three classmates who were in the driver’s ed car when Jeremy goes grand theft auto mode, decide to give him company and see what happens with the girl.
Directed by Bobby Farrelly and written by Thomas Moffett, Driver’s Ed stars Sam Nivola as primary protagonist Jeremy, an aspiring filmmaker and hopeless romantic who’d do anything to win his girlfriend Samantha (Lilah Pate) over. Classmates Evie (Sophie Telegadis), Yoshi (Aidan Laprete), and Aparna (Mohana Krishnan) become Jeremy’s accomplices, taking turns driving their stolen school car to Samantha’s college.
While marketed as a teen comedy, Driver’s Ed is more of a relaxed road-trip film, with four teens who aren’t exactly friends embarking on an impromptu trip to a college 200 miles away. Meanwhile, Principal Fisher (Molly Shannon) tasks the campus security guard (Tim Baltz) with discreetly bringing the kids back after their driving teacher, Mr. Rivers (Kumail Nanjiani), convinces the principal not to involve the cops.
Sam Nivola doesn’t exactly exude “passionate film-obsessed teen” energy, but delivers a grounded performance as the love-struck Jeremy, who simply cannot imagine life without his girlfriend. Or so he thinks. Sophie Telegadis is charmingly endearing as the cynical Evie, a girl who doesn’t believe in romance because of her parents’ bitter divorce.
Aidan Laprete provides most of the film’s laughs as Yoshi, the smart but perpetually high Asian kid who sells drugs instead of working toward becoming a doctor. Mohana Krishnan is understated but sweet as Aparna, the Indian-American valedictorian whose first instinct is to call the cops, only to be talked into loosening up by her former friend Yoshi. Turns out even the class topper can be persuaded to commit a little felony, provided the road trip sounds fun enough.
From running into the cops and rescuing a cat to losing their phones in the most ridiculous way imaginable, Driver’s Ed is packed with mishaps, arguments, silly teenage mistakes, and plenty of banter. The subplot and scenes focusing on the teachers scrambling to deal with four runaway students is easily the film’s weakest link, their screen-time should’ve been slashed a bit.
There’s just enough suspense to keep things moving, as Jeremy and his friends race to reach Samantha’s college before the police catch up with them. Perhaps the most impressive feat Bobby Farrelly and his team pull off is making their Gen Z protagonists function for hours without their phones. Evie suffers a brief meltdown after losing hers, but quickly adapts and carries on. It’s admittedly a little unrealistic, yet it’s refreshing to watch a film where the characters aren’t constantly glued to their screens.
Driver’s Ed is never uproariously funny, but I found myself enjoying its laid-back energy, with much of the charm coming from the teenagers simply chatting about their dreams, aspirations, and, of course, their love lives. The characters are open with one another, unafraid to talk about their feelings. Even when they bottle things up for a while, they eventually find the courage to speak honestly when it matters most.
By the end, the story is less about Jeremy’s grand romantic gesture and more about four unlikely classmates finding friends for life. If that sounds like a film that would appeal to you, go ahead and watch it.
Watch ‘Driver’s Ed’ on Prime Video.
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