"You made it alright to be me" (originally written July 2 '07)

I just finished watching Rupert Grint’s movie, Driving Lessons. It made me realize how utterly biased I am going to be from now on regarding him as an actor. But the good thing is, he really does act very well in it.

I have recently begun my seasonal obsession over things Harry Potter, and this time, it’s doubled because both the final book and the fifth movie are due out ten days apart. It is an unimaginable feeling of hysteria and paranoia. It does not help that Rupert has grown into such a wonderfully-looking and affable young man and therefore I feel very protective of him. It is my immense misfortune not to have been around New York City when the Tribeca film festival ran last May (or was it April?), because then I could have been one of the Rupert fans who eagerly awaited Driving Lessons’ US premiere (plus, I could have seen him in person during the film’s Q and A, or as he roamed the streets of Manhattan). At any rate, I did hear about this indie movie from way way back, but I had no idea how “special” a movie it was. For starters, it was written by the acclaimed Jeremy Brock, who also wrote “The Last King of Scotland” and “Mrs. Brown”. And with Julie Walters and Laura Linney in the film, I thought Rupert enjoyed some esteemed company.

Rupert seems destined to play Ben. Like him, he is shy, soft-spoken, dazed, and confused. It is such a great fit for Rupert acts out Ben like a good friend – full of charm and bashful brio (if there was such a term). Despite the limitations of his character and the fact that he remains “in the box”, the whole movie is a testament to Rupert’s range of emotions. What his fans will love about it is how he has grown up, and how he seems to lend credence and validity to how he’s played Ron Weasley all this time. For me, however, my fondness for Ben comes from something more personal.

He is a poet with parent issues. He devotes his waking hours to the pursuit of the dream, and of truth. He goes beyond the comforts of his own home in order to seek out life. He gives in to his vicariousness in a restrained yet relentless way. He seeks escape because he only wants love – and to be loved in return. He is somehow someone I had hoped to be, quite frankly. I don’t know if I can accept the drama, but when Ben and his father exchange “I love you’s” out loud, probably for the first time, my heart skipped a beat and I shed a tear. It was a profound moment that both actors performed beautifully.

Seeing Rupert begin his life in the public eye as an eleven-year old, it makes sense to say that I see this movie as a coming of age of sorts, or a “welcome to the real world of filmmaking”. After all, it was his first serious starring vehicle, written and directed by a very talented and creative individual. Not to belittle what Harry Potter has done for him, but in a way, Rupert has stepped out of the comfort zone of a franchise and into the real and somewhat unforgiving and critical world of independent cinema. In a way, I would love to hug Brock for casting Rupert in the film. I realize it was a semi-autobiographical piece, but I will have to trust that the role was tailor made for Rupert. He did so well, and he had gotten lovely reviews from it.

Unfortunately, the whole film needs a bit of work. I could probably give Brock a bit of leeway, as a first time director. Definitely, the establishment of shots need work, and the segues and scene cutaways jar sometimes. Music selection was a bit distracting, although the better-used ones were in the title credits and in the montage of scenes after Ben and Evie came home from Edinburgh. While Julie Walters’ Evie was a bit screechy, Laura Linney was sympathetic and the actor who played Ben’s father was subtle and affecting. On the whole, however, Brock could have squeezed out some better performances from his actors. But as a writer, I give him great credit for some really great lines, and a lot of the praise stems from how brilliant Rupert’s delivery was. I found myself laughing in some bits, and it really is a testament to Rupert’s excellent comic timing, which was shaped by his experiences in Harry Potter. There were two funny scenes in the movie that I thought he did wonderful in. The first was when Evie swallows the car key and Ben’s resulting gamut of expressions – from disgust, to anger, to frustration, to fright (loved hearing him swear on screen for the first time, too). The second was when he rang his mother to tell him he won’t be coming home for the night and he desperately tries to stave off her attempts to call the police. He says “I’m fine!” numerous times, and he gives off a variety of emotions for each.

Apart from the funny ones, Rupert has some exceptional scenes in the movie. When he tries to calm Evie down during a poetry recital (“It’s okay, I’m here, I’m sorry”), his face is calm but his voice is a nervous but soothing wreck. And afterwards, when their argument escalates in the middle of nowhere, it peaks when Evie calls him a liar, Rupert shouts at her with such fervor as well as misery, and then his face collapses with enormous guilt when he discloses his tryst the night before. And oooh, what a tryst! Rupert gets his first onscreen kiss and bed scene in this movie. And like the buzz that surrounded Dan Radcliffe and Katie Leung with their kiss, I understood why some of the production crew on Harry Potter were teary eyed when they saw Dan kiss Katie for the first time on the monitor.

Now I have always been fond of Rupert. It helped a lot that he played my most loved character in the Harry Potter series – Ron Weasley was my beloved pet and literary figure. Rupert had always been, for me, the standout of the Trio, and I always expected more from him. He is like a baby to me, and I always acted like the big sister when it comes to him, like: why isn’t he getting any screen time? Why is his hair such a bloody mess? Why is he dressed like that? Why did he leave school? Why in bloody hell did he buy an ice cream truck? Why won’t he say anything more? Why is he not in that picture? Why is it always about Dan and effing Emma?!? Anyway, I always wanted him to get the best of things, and I somehow thought he kept getting the short end of the stick. Which is why I was incredibly proud of Driving Lessons and of the work that he did on it. And now he’s all grown up and ready to prove to everyone, and myself, that he can tackle more mature themes. But I will always be his big sister, and when I saw him kiss Bryony and get in bed with her, well… I wanted to cry. It was such a big step, and it was such a tender moment, that you cannot help but watch it to the end. And I could not help but think that, if Bryony breaks his heart, I will break her face! (Of course, Sarah ended up doing that to Ben, and rightfully, Ben tells her to fuck off at the end.) So yes, it was an amazing moment to watch Rupert kiss a (much older) girl and get in bed with her. Jeremy Brock shares the same sentiment. In a sweet interview for Moviefone’s Unscripted, he tells Rupert that when he directed the kissing scene, he felt a lot like his “father, I couldn’t ask you how you were feeling because I knew that you were aware that it was coming, and it was inappropriate somehow, and that it was not my place”.

In the end, Ben ties up a few loose ends in his life, and continues to pursue his poetry. It’s not an entirely happy ending for him, but you can tell that he is at least going in a nice direction. The movie ends, but I trust Rupert to continue going in the direction that this film has made for him. Yes, Dan may have his Alan Strang, but Rupert will always have Ben and my heart.

The title of this journal entry comes from the last line of a poem written by Ben for Evie. I thought it was a nice line. Kudos, Jeremy Brock.