We had an early day off of school yesterday and as usual, we went to town, haha. The usual routine: first stop- bookshop (to search for some books/magazines), bakeshop (to buy foods), walk thru the streets (and buy some Chicken Pops along the way) annnnd lastly, to hunt for some interesting new, not-so-new up to the classic, movies/DVD.

Yee! Luckily, I get to see this Driving Lessons dvd for the first time and I was like, "Wha? Is this real?" haha. For everytime we go there, I am on a hunt for some Rupert Grint stuff, aside from the usual Harry Potter movies of course. Well, truth be told, Rup only has 3 movies outside Hogwarts namely Thunderpants (2001), Driving Lessons (2006) and Cherrybomb (2009). Uh there's 4, I'm sorry, it's called Wild Target and it's not yet released as of the moment. :) Cherrybomb has just wrapped up recently and was an indie film, that's why there's a very little chance of it to be shown in here (be it on theatre or dvd). Tsss. I so want to see that movie, but all I can do now is to hope.

Moving on, when I saw that DL dvd, I bought it right away haha. It's not everyday that you get to find one, yeah? And later that night, watched it again (again since I've seen the movie through the internet a couple of times). It's always refreshing though, to watch movies on your own tv, without all the distraction and buffering, lol.

So... Hm. As we all know there's a lot of DL movie reviews around the web, and here... are my thoughts about the movie. I am a Rupert fangirl, (lol yes. And proud!) but I'll try to make this one fair to everyone haha.

'Driving Lessons' means a lot to Rupert for this is somehow his attempt to make his own identity and not just be known as Harry's sidekick, Ron Weasley that is. Did he succeed then? I must say yes. He has captured the right emotion that's needed in his every scene. The shy guy Ben Marshall, who's being deprived of a normal teenage life, er, sort of, by his so-called Christian but overprotective mother, Laura (Laura Linney). It was when he worked as an assistant to Dame Evie Walton (played by Julie Walters, who happened to portray Molly Weasley in the Potter movies, Ron's mother.) that he learned how to live and stand for his own. What can I say? Julie Walters is amazing! Convincing acting, indeed. She and Rupert has this on-screen chemistry of motherly affection making their scenes so nicely done. Laura gave an awesome job too, I am really getting irked by her all throughout the movie 'cause she's so crazy. Haha. Teaching about Christianity and being good when she herself is not even a perfect one. Who is perfect, anyway. None.

What I am loathing about though is Rup's on-screen partner here, the one who gets to have his first on-screen kiss and loses his on-screen virginity with. lol She looked like an older sister to Rup. Bahaha! Srsly. Or maybe I am jealous, or maybe no. Idk. But it was sort of cool though. Rup has perfected that awkward, innocent expression on his face making his scenes come up so natural.

My favorite scene from the movie has to be this exchange of emotional lines by Ben and Evie. It's when Ben failed to come to Evie's reading in Edinburgh after being held up, er, spending the night with Bryony.

Ben: I'm not going back.

Evie: Then I'll walk.

B: You can't! You're dying!

E: I am not dying.

B: You musn't be afraid of death.

E: I am not dying!

B: God embraces all who believes in him, for they will have everlasting life.

E: I AM NOT DYING! I MADE IT UP!

B: I forgive you.. ..God gave you your talent for a reason.

E: There's no God, you pompous little cretin.

B: God forgives you for that too.

E: Let's get one thing clear, sunny boy! I do the forgiving, not God!

B: That's a terrible thing to say!

E: You never read the bloody thing anyway!

B: I read the Bible every night!

E: Liar!

B: Liar? You tell me I'm a liar? I'd never met anyone who lied so much in all my life! You make out all people out of thin air! You make out professations! You make out money!

E: You said you'd be there at eleven and you weren't. For one time I really needed you and you let me down at one time.

Woo! That was really intense! I've never seen Rupert that mad. Oh well, this is his first lead role, lol, that explains why. But anyway, he's, er, they pulled it off rather really well.

I also love the behind-the-scenes outtakes and the deleted scenes that's included in the dvd. It's so funny how awkward Rupert dances in their rehearsals haha. And when Julie was laughing as she forgot some of her lines that's rather adorable to watch. Rupert dancing, singing Gospel songs, reciting poems, swearing... lol awesome!

Upon watching the movie, there is this promise that somehow, he's going to be a great actor, comedy being his forte, given the right opportunity in the future. For now, I can just keep my fingers crossed for that. Harry Potter movies may come to its end come 2011, but I do hope it'll not be the end for Rupes' acting career.

So there! I tried really hard not to be so much of a fangirl but eventually, I failed, haha. And I am sorry for that. All in all, Driving Lessons is a feel good movie. Might as well you give it a try and watch (if you still haven't.)

"Thank you for having me." -Ben Marshall