Plot
edit{{spoilers}}
Ben is a 17 year old who lives in London with his vicar father and over-protective, heavily religious mother (Laura Linney). He has few friends, and he is seemingly in love with a girl called Sarah, whom he writes romantic poems about. At the request of his mother, he gets a job helping Evie (Julie Walters), a retired, unsuccessful actress. Evie is very opinionated and seemingly unaware of other people's needs and feelings, often making comments about strangers and making unreasonable demands upon Ben and others.
{{endspoiler}}
One reason its called "Driving Lessons" is because Evie actually does teach Ben to drive. This may seem odd because she doesn't know how to drive herself, but he still learns from her because she makes him drive anyways, even if he isn't that great. By making him drive he's able to learn more then he would with his mother.