Driveways is an American drama movie, directed by Andrew Ahn, based on an original screenplay by playwrights Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen.
The story begins with the arrival of Kathy (Hong Chau) and her 8 years old son Cody (Lucas Jaye) at Kathy's sister house, after she just passed away. Kathy and her sister had no real connection in her last years, and Kathy plans to stay for only a few days, clean the house, and sell it. While there, Cody meets Del (Brian Dennehy), a grouchy, older Korean war veteran, widower, who lives alone next door. Very slowly, a unique friendship is built between the young Cody, and the aging Del. I will not spoil, and only say that the rest of the movie moves around this developing relationship.
Overall, this is a very gentle, mellow, calm, and heart-warming, human drama.
It is also a nice gerontological movie, as it shows the power of inter-generational relationships.
It should be noted that Brian Dennehy, who plays wonderfully the rold of Del - died at the age of 82 shortly after the movie was released. While not known for his "gerontological" appearances, he was a very well known actor, with a rich and successful career. His performence in this movie is certainly a good evidence of his talent and acting abilities.
I must admit that the movie reminded me of anoter very similar gerontological movie, with a similar plot about a relationship between a young Asian kid, and an old, grumpy war veteran: Clint Eastwood's 2008 movie "Gran Torino". At that movie Eastwood also played an ageing Korean war veteran, which also slowly develops a unique relationships with a yound Asian neighbor. Unlike Driveways, Gran Torino is a much "faster" movie, with action and violence involved, along with the powerful presence of Eastwood's personality and character.
In sum: Driveways is a nice and optimistic movie to watch. But, it is not much more than that, as there are much more powerful, and similar, gerontological movies.
USA
2020
Director: Andrew Ahn
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