Ben Marshall (Rupert Grint) delivers meals for the elderly on his bicycle. He's not a good driver and fails his test. Laura (Laura Linney) is his religious mother obsessed with charity work. She won't let him have a cell phone since it causes cancer. She's having an affair with Peter from the church. His mother urges Ben to earn money for the family and he answers an ad placed by Evie Walton (Julie Walters). Evie is a flamboyant former actress. Ben is the opposite. He writes sensitive poems for his crush Sarah (Tamsin Egerton) but she thinks it's weird.
This coming-of-age adventure relies on the actors to deliver the familiar character types. Grint has a good awkwardness but his screen presence is still not at star level. Walters is a little too prickly. She needs more fun in addition to her wild bitter drunkenness. Linney delivers some wild jabs and one or two actually land the mark. This is mostly light quirky but it rarely truly gets hilarious.
This coming-of-age adventure relies on the actors to deliver the familiar character types. Grint has a good awkwardness but his screen presence is still not at star level. Walters is a little too prickly. She needs more fun in addition to her wild bitter drunkenness. Linney delivers some wild jabs and one or two actually land the mark. This is mostly light quirky but it rarely truly gets hilarious.