Following the collapse of her marriage, Manhattan-based literary critic Wendy (Patricia Clarkson) decides to learn to drive. Her Sikh instructor, Darwan (Ben Kingsley), offers her the benefit of his wisdom on parallel parking and road rage, while she gives the newly married Darwan some insight into the workings of the female heart. It’s a gentle ride through this tentative connection between two damaged souls. However, while the film refrains from following the obvious romantic route, the life lesson symbolism of Wendy’s driving tuition is signposted a little too glaringly. Still, it’s a pleasure to watch two actors of the calibre of Clarkson and Kingsley sparking together. Clarkson, in particular, is spot-on; her character unfolds gradually into the serenity that comes with hard-earned self-sufficiency. And the gentle, low-key humour belies some spiky observations about multicultural America.
