Quick, what’s the rarest movie genre you can think of? OK, yeah, there’s the roller disco musical, there’s not many of those. But while it might not be the absolute least common, how about this—can you name five movies off the top of your head about people… just being nice to each other? I know, I know, dramatic tension, conflict, those make for good stories, but do we all really have so much kindness in our lives already that we can’t use more movies about people simply being good?
Driveways tells the story of Cody, a smart, sensitive nine-year-old, and his mother, Kathy. The two go to Kathy’s recently deceased sister’s house to clean it out, learning the woman was probably a hoarder, meaning the job is likely to take weeks, if not longer. Cody’s the type of kid who’s shy, sweet and likeable, but seems more comfortable talking to adults than to other kids. We can guess he probably doesn’t have many—or any—friends.
The next door neighbor, a Korean War veteran named Del, sees Cody’s a bit lonely, and that Kathy could use a hand occupying the kid, and so he brings Cody over to his house, teaches him a few little things, and kind of just lets him hang out, reading on the porch, or having little chats about whatever. Cody needs a friend, Del knows it, and that’s that.
Del’s played magnificently by the late Brian Dennehy in one of his final roles, and the movie acknowledges both Dennehy’s extraordinary physical presence, and that time even breaks down someone like him. It doesn’t shy away from the fact he’s simply become an old man, but it doesn’t exploit that, either. It just lets him be what he is.
That we might watch Driveways worried that something bad could happen says everything about us—the movie’s not trying to trick us. It’s kind, it’s quiet, and it knows that sometimes people are just basically good and want to help each other. I wish this didn’t have to seem remarkable.
