Review of License to Drive (1988) by Manu G — 17 Jul 2012

Some guys get all the brakes!

Good 80's classic movie! License to Drive is a movie about taking chances, though you can probably figure out from beginning to end how the movie is going to go. No less, it's good 80s fun. Les Anderson (Haim) has turned 16 and is desperate to get his driver's license. Over-confident, it is no surprise that he flunks the exam. But he figures no one would notice. So, he lies to his folks and friends about the whole thing, expecting everything will be smooth sailing until he can retake the exam.

'An innocent girl. A harmless drive. What could possibly go wrong?' For sixteen year old Les Anderson, plenty can go wrong when you have a night like his. He's an adolescent American with dreams of getting his hands on his first driver's license, so he can hit the town cruising with his friends Dean and Charles, but ultimately to impress the girl of his dreams, Mercedes Lane. Unfortunately for Les, his worst nightmare hits home hard when she fails his driving exam and his parents put him on probation for trying to hide the truth, so now his chances of being able to drive are squashed badly. However, Mercedes, who has just broken up with her old boyfriend who's a rich snob, is bored and wants to keep the date that she promised with Les and the youngster's heart skips a beat when she calls him up asking to go out for a night on the town. Les knows he's risking big-time punishment, but he decides that if he's gonna go down, he may as well have some fun with the girl of his dreams. When he takes his grandfather's prized Cadillac on his date with Mercedes, hilarity ensues with him, his friends Dean and Charles and his drunken date as they do all they can to get the Caddy home in one piece as comical disaster roars down the fast lane.