Buy posters from this movie

The son of a dull vicar (Nicholas Farrell) and domineering mother (a mildly miscast Laura Linney), Ben (Grint) gets a job assisting aging actress Evie (Walters), whose ever-peculiar nature helps the perpetually flustered Ben slowly shed his shell, come of age, etc.

For a film of its ilk, Lessons is rarely cloying yet unusually graceless, if writer and debut director Jeremy Brock wants to craft an idiosyncratic delight without really trying. He doesn’t quite abuse the crowd-pleasing and heart-tugging moments, but he also avoids straying into unfamiliar territory at every turn, and the humor persistently lacks a much-needed bite or edge. Not helping matters are a rather ill-suited score and a subplot concerning a cross-dressing live-in that figures clumsily into the film’s climax, but just about every other stop on the route from friction to friendship is reached right on schedule without any genuine feelings or fun to make the trip worthwhile.

As such, the allegedly semi-autobiographical proceedings primarily serve as a showcase for Grint to play off his Harry Potter co-star in an effort to take a step in no particular direction out from under the shadow of his role in the famous fantasy franchise, and at best, he demonstrates his remarkable skill for moping and muttering like a typical timid teen. Thus, it falls to Walters to liven up matters, to serve as a foil to everyone else, and it’s not her showboating moments, but the little touches that bring her character any warmth (you’ve never seen a woman toss a pair of garden shears so nonchalantly), and she brings her character to such vivid life that I’ll be damned if she doesn’t deserve to belong in a better movie. Regrettably, the usually reliable Linney finds herself struggling with her righteous role and awkward accent, and her strict mum never gets a chance to recover.

'Lessons' is barely ever anything more than a thorough exercise in merely adequate trifle, and for that reason, there’s no real motive for any curious parties to either steer clear of or go out of their way for such familiar fare.

link directly to this review at https://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=14335&reviewer=409
originally posted: 12/17/06 15:58:41
 printer-friendly format