DailyView: Day 293, Movie 416

I was on Twitter the other night and I saw a tweet talking about a movie called Driveways. The tweeter (I do not remember who it was) said that the film was criminally underwatched and the tweeter wished people would search out the film.

I went in search of the movie, which turned out to be the final film in the career of the late, great Brian Dennehy, and I found it on Vudu.

A lonesome young boy Cody (Lucas Jaye) comes with his mother (Hong Chau) to clean out his late aunt’s house. Cody met and befriended a former veteran Del (Brian Dennehy) who lived next door.

Driveways was a sweet, deeply connecting character study, focused mainly upon the relationship between the old man and the young boy. The movie does not have a lot of plot, but the story is really in the characters. Both Dennehy and Lucas Jaye are wonderful here and they create a friendship that carries the emotional depth of the movie.

Cody’s mother, played by Hong Chau, does a great job as well, struggling with the job of cleaning out her sister’s house (which is packed to the ceiling with junk) as well as her sister’s death. She is trying to maintain her job, raising her son on her own, while dealing with the emotions swelling within her.

There are some fantastically sentimental scenes with these characters in a real life setting that places each character into situations that are powerful and moving. It may seem to be a fairly simple film, but there is so much more going on with the characters that you will fall for it.

I’m pleased that I found that tweet. Thanks to whomever that was. Driveways is a gem that I missed when it was first released. I am so happy that I got a chance to see it now.