Baby, You Can...

Er, you see what I did there?   Titling the blog entry and morphs into the title of the movie I am reviewing.  As I think about that, I sort of trivialized the film and that is the last thing I wanted to do.   Largely, because this might be one of the best movies of last year.   FYI, it got nominated for both Best Picture and Best International Feature, which guarantees that the film will get one of those.   And well deserved.

Indeed, "Drive My Car" is three hours long but seems inexplicably shorter because you become so engaged with the characters.   And given that you're reading English subtitles all the way through, it's remarkable that never once do you get tired watching this film.

Even more amazing is that this is a movie about people dealing with grief.  You would think that could be a Debbie Downer but, let's face it, we have all dealt with loss of some type at some time in our lives.

The guy in the poster above is an actor/stage director married to a beautiful screenwriter.  She actually outlines her script out loud while having sex with her husband.   Well, these two have issues and one of them is her infidelity when he spots her screwing a young TV actor.   But, before they get to talk about it, she dies of a brain hemorrhage.   

Two years later, he is in Hiroshima directing a multilingual stage play of "Uncle Vanya" which happens to have in the cast that same young TV actor.   Meanwhile, because the director is now suffering from glaucoma, he hires an exclusive Uber driver...a young girl dealing with her own grief over a bad relationship with her mother.   Before they got to talk through their issues, Mom is crushed in a landslide.

So, a lot of the movie is about their car rides and both of these characters dealing with their feelings over their lost loved ones.   You would think this would drag?  Well, nope.   It is riveting every reel until the point where the two characters have the individual catharses that you know will envelop the end of the film, because, in truth, "Drive My Car" is all about healing.

I highly recommend this film which is worth your time.   And, oh, by the way, the director wanted to use the Beatles tune in the sound track but couldn't get the rights.  So there.

LEN'S RATING:  Four stars.

Dinner last night:  Teriyaki beef and noodles.