Brian Dennehy, who died last month at the age of 81, deserves the description "great" just as much as Anthony Hopkins, or anybody else in that exquisite class of top-notch actors. I mention Hopkins only because of the physical resemblance.
With little that resembles drama or plotline, "Driveways" is a movie that you are unlikely to forget, especially during moments you happen to be sitting all by yourself, reflecting on life. One critic characterises it as "sweet and unassuming". Another uses the word "gentle" a few times. This is a story essentially about the friendship between a smart and sensitive 9-year-old boy and a widower war veteran maybe 8 times his age. The movie "plot" starts with a single mother Kathy moving temporarily to a small town with her 9-year-old son Cody (a marvellous Lucas Jaye) to sell a house left by her recently deceased sister. Kathy is played by Hong Chau who had a Golden Globe nomination for "Downsizing" (2017) and a key role in TV mini-series "Watchmen" (2019). She has also made solid contribution to the TV series "Treme" (2012) and "Big little lies" (2017). The initial encounter of mother-and-son with the house can be described as "shocking", with reference to the horrendous state of the interior. While Kathy agonizes over the job dead sister April as left her with, Cody seeks temporary escape outside, trying to get a drink of water from the garden hose. Sitting at the porch of the next house idly is Del (Brian Dennehy) the aforementioned veteran. Noticing the boy's difficulties, Del nonchalantly mouths "the other way". Cody follows the instructing, turning the control anti-clockwise, and gets his water sprouting from the hose. Back inside, Kathy asks Cody how his shirt gets wet and he replies "the army guy". Kathy brings Cody around the house to approach Del, saying to the man that it is not advisable for his son to talk to strangers. "Did he bother you?" she added. "No", comes the quiet, unassuming answer. "Did you spray him, sir?" "No" again, quietly. From that point on, the relationship of mother-and-son with this new neighbour is continuously upbeat. I shall be remiss if I try to relate or describe the minimalistic events marking the growth of the warm, gentle relationship between Del and Cody. That will take away the viewers' wonderous first-hand experience. Just one example, if I am allowed. Kathy organizes a birthday party for Cody at a skating rink but his two young friends fail to show up, due to things beyond their control. Only Del comes. Seeing that the skating rink is really noisy, he brings mother and son, together with the birthday cake, to his favourite bingo game at the V.F.W. hall and even gets him teamed up with his old buddy Rodger to circumvent the rule that kids are not allowed to play bingo. Incidentally, in another scene, Del and Rodger reminds me of Sandy and Norman. You know what I mean if you have seen Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin in the award-winning TV series "The Kominsky Method". Through these slices-of-life anecdotes, some funny, some poignant, we learn how two people 60 years apart can draw out the best from each other. A little "sub plot" is Kathy's remorse of her neglecting April, and getting comfort from Del who helps her to reacquaint with her sister, even if only in spirit. Without any artificial contrivance, the final scene, between Del and Cody, makes you silently weep and smile, both. While this is not Dennehy's very last movie, it is a fitting farewell gift from him to the audience.
With little that resembles drama or plotline, "Driveways" is a movie that you are unlikely to forget, especially during moments you happen to be sitting all by yourself, reflecting on life. One critic characterises it as "sweet and unassuming". Another uses the word "gentle" a few times. This is a story essentially about the friendship between a smart and sensitive 9-year-old boy and a widower war veteran maybe 8 times his age. The movie "plot" starts with a single mother Kathy moving temporarily to a small town with her 9-year-old son Cody (a marvellous Lucas Jaye) to sell a house left by her recently deceased sister. Kathy is played by Hong Chau who had a Golden Globe nomination for "Downsizing" (2017) and a key role in TV mini-series "Watchmen" (2019). She has also made solid contribution to the TV series "Treme" (2012) and "Big little lies" (2017). The initial encounter of mother-and-son with the house can be described as "shocking", with reference to the horrendous state of the interior. While Kathy agonizes over the job dead sister April as left her with, Cody seeks temporary escape outside, trying to get a drink of water from the garden hose. Sitting at the porch of the next house idly is Del (Brian Dennehy) the aforementioned veteran. Noticing the boy's difficulties, Del nonchalantly mouths "the other way". Cody follows the instructing, turning the control anti-clockwise, and gets his water sprouting from the hose. Back inside, Kathy asks Cody how his shirt gets wet and he replies "the army guy". Kathy brings Cody around the house to approach Del, saying to the man that it is not advisable for his son to talk to strangers. "Did he bother you?" she added. "No", comes the quiet, unassuming answer. "Did you spray him, sir?" "No" again, quietly. From that point on, the relationship of mother-and-son with this new neighbour is continuously upbeat. I shall be remiss if I try to relate or describe the minimalistic events marking the growth of the warm, gentle relationship between Del and Cody. That will take away the viewers' wonderous first-hand experience. Just one example, if I am allowed. Kathy organizes a birthday party for Cody at a skating rink but his two young friends fail to show up, due to things beyond their control. Only Del comes. Seeing that the skating rink is really noisy, he brings mother and son, together with the birthday cake, to his favourite bingo game at the V.F.W. hall and even gets him teamed up with his old buddy Rodger to circumvent the rule that kids are not allowed to play bingo. Incidentally, in another scene, Del and Rodger reminds me of Sandy and Norman. You know what I mean if you have seen Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin in the award-winning TV series "The Kominsky Method". Through these slices-of-life anecdotes, some funny, some poignant, we learn how two people 60 years apart can draw out the best from each other. A little "sub plot" is Kathy's remorse of her neglecting April, and getting comfort from Del who helps her to reacquaint with her sister, even if only in spirit. Without any artificial contrivance, the final scene, between Del and Cody, makes you silently weep and smile, both. While this is not Dennehy's very last movie, it is a fitting farewell gift from him to the audience.