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''License to Drive'' is a 1988 American
teen Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the ...
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the old ...
written by Neil Tolkin and directed by
Greg Beeman Greg Beeman (born 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American film and television director and producer and winner of the Directors Guild of America award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement. He is well known for his work on the television ser ...
in his feature film directorial debut. It stars
Corey Haim Corey Ian Haim (December 23, 1971 – March 10, 2010) was a Canadian actor. He starred in a number of 1980s films, such as '' Lucas'', '' Silver Bullet'', '' Murphy's Romance'', ''License to Drive'' and '' Dream a Little Dream''. His role along ...
,
Corey Feldman Corey Scott Feldman (born July 16, 1971) is an American actor and musician. As a youth, he became well known for roles in the 1980s in films such as '' Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter'' (1984), ''Gremlins'' (1984), '' The Goonies'' (1985), ...
, Heather Graham,
Carol Kane Carolyn Laurie Kane (born June 18, 1952) is an American actress. She became known in the 1970s and 1980s in films such as '' Hester Street'' (for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress), ''Dog Day Afternoon'', ''Annie ...
,
Richard Masur Richard Masur is an American character actor who has appeared in more than 80 films. From 1995 to 1999, he served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). He is best known for Nick Lobo on ''Rhoda'' (1974-1977), Stanley Uris in th ...
, Michael Manasseri, and
Nina Siemaszko Antonina Jadwiga Siemaszko (born July 14, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her film roles in '' Little Noises'' (1992), ''The Saint of Fort Washington'' (1993), and for her role as Eleanor Bartlet in ''The West Wing'' (2001–2006). ...
. The film was in production in late 1987. It was released on July 6, 1988, in the United States and grossed over $20 million at the North American box office. It was distributed by
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...
.


Plot

Southern California teenager Les Anderson tries to get his
driver's license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public r ...
in order to impress his crush, beautiful Mercedes Lane. He fails the knowledge portion of the exam, but inadvertently causes a computer surge. Les' failing marks are thought to be irretrievable, but the Department of Motor Vehicles lets him pass the exam after comparing him to his twin sister's high marks. He eventually passes the road test, but his real test scores are finally retrieved and his license is revoked. Les tries concealing the truth from his parents, but his mother finds out the truth and his father grounds him for two weeks. Les made plans to drive his grandfather's prized 1972 Cadillac Sedan de Ville prior and decides to sneak away anyway for a joyride with Mercedes. Mercedes gets drunk and then she and Les accidentally cave in the hood of the car after dancing on it. She passes out; Les panics and goes to his best friend Dean's house to have him fix the dent in the car's hood. Dean persuades Les to continue the joyride along with their friend Charles, but are unaware Les still does not have his license. The three put Mercedes in the trunk of the car and continue their night on the town, causing even more damage to the Cadillac. Meanwhile, Mrs. Anderson wakes up her husband late in the night announcing she is in labor. The next day, Les drops off Charles and Dean at their homes. Mercedes wakes up and believes that the night prior was a dream. Les drops her off at her house where they share a kiss. Les gets in trouble with his father Robert after returning home with the damaged Cadillac. Mrs. Anderson is still in labor, but since the car's transmission will not shift into drive he is forced to drive his family to the hospital in reverse. She is taken into the hospital but a crane fails outside and a falling steel girder crushes the Cadillac, much to the shock of Les and Robert. The family tries to explain the state of the Cadillac to Les' grandfather, but Grandpa laughs it off as he reveals he has severely damaged his son's own BMW in an accident. Robert gives the BMW to Les and jokingly tells him to take good care of it. Although Les thanks his father, he has changed his mind and doesn't want it anymore. Mercedes pulls up in a white Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet and picks up Les, who gets in the driver's seat and drives away with her.


Cast


Release

It earned $22,433,275 at the North American box office, against a production budget of $8 million.


Reception

''License to Drive'' received generally negative reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, it has a approval rating based on reviews, with an average score of . The site's critics consensus reads, "Despite a hard-working cast and a premise that will appeal to its teenage target demographic, this deeply silly comedy only has a ''License to Drive'' audiences to seek out better films." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film had an average score of 36 out of 100 based on 9 critics, indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews." ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' critic
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film two and a half out of four stars and described the film as "more-than-passable summer entertainment, especially when it identifies with the yearnings of its young heroes to get behind the wheel." He said the first half of the film was "very funny" but the second half was "much more predictable".


Music

; Track listing # " Drive My Car" by Breakfast Club – 3:13 # "Sweet Surrender" by Brenda K. Starr – 4:50 # " I Feel Free" (extended version) by
Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist. Raised in ...
– 6:55 # "Time Starts Now" by Boys Club – 4:28 # " Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car" by
Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-son ...
– 4:43 # " Crucial" by
New Edition New Edition is an American R&B/Pop group from the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1978 by Bobby Brown. Their name is taken to mean a 'new edition' of the Jackson 5. The group reached its height of popularity in the 19 ...
– 4:30 # "One More Dance" by Jonathan Butler – 4:32 # "Jazzy's in the House" by
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince were an American hip hop duo from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, consisting of rapper Will Smith (the Fresh Prince) and disc jockey Jeff Townes ( DJ Jazzy Jeff). Active full time from 1986 to 1994 and occasio ...
– 2:55 # "Touch and Go" by
Femme Fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...
– 3:57 # "Make Some Noise" by Slave Raider – 3:28 Songs played in the film, but not on the soundtrack # " Mercedes Boy" by Pebbles – 3:54 (single remix) # "
Rush Hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: o ...
" by
Jane Wiedlin Jane Marie Genevieve Wiedlin (born May 20, 1958) is an American musician and singer, best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist of the new wave band The Go-Go's. She has also had a successful solo career. The Go-Go's ...
– 4:03 # "
Strangers in the Night "Strangers in the Night" is a song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. Kaempfert originally used it under the title "Beddy Bye" as part of the instrumental score for the movie ''A Man Could Get ...
" by
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
# " That's Life" by Frank Sinatra # "Waiting for the Big One" by Femme Fatale # "Trouble" by Nia Peeples


Home media

''License to Drive'' was first released on VHS by CBS/Fox Video in late 1988. It was notable that some VHS versions of the film replaced the Nia Peeples song "Trouble" with " New Sensation" by
INXS INXS (a phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss ...
. A special edition DVD was distributed by
Anchor Bay Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment (formerly Video Treasures and Starmaker Entertainment) was an American home entertainment and production company. It was a subsidiary of Starz Inc. Anchor Bay Entertainment marketed and sold feature films, television se ...
in the United States on May 3, 2005. Special features included interviews with Corey Haim and Corey Feldman, audio commentary with Greg Beeman and Neil Tolkin, deleted scenes, TV spots, theatrical trailers, and the film's screenplay (DVD-ROM). On January 17, 2012, Anchor Bay released the film on Blu-ray.


Unmade sequel and trilogy

In an interview on ''
Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angele ...
'', on March 10, 2010, the day of Corey Haim's death, Corey Feldman revealed that he and Haim had been developing a sequel, titled ''License to Fly'', an idea initiated by Haim. Feldman also stated that there were tentative plans for a trilogy, with a third installment called ''License to Dive.''


Reboot

As of 2017, Fox Studios and Davis Entertainment were developing a female-driven reboot based on the film.


See also

*
List of American films of 1988 A list of American films released in 1988. ''Rain Man'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture. A B-C D-G H-K L-M N-Q R-S T-Z See also * 1988 in American television * 1988 in the United States References Extern ...


References


External links

* * * {{Greg Beeman 1988 films 1988 comedy films 1988 directorial debut films 1980s teen comedy films American teen comedy films Davis Entertainment films Films about automobiles Films directed by Greg Beeman Films produced by John Davis Films set in California Films shot in California 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 20th Century Fox films