Parents' Guide to

License to Drive

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Dated '80s teen comedy has car crashes, drinking, cursing.

Movie PG-13 1988 88 minutes
License to Drive Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 12+

Based on 1 parent review

dvdgirl
dvdgirl Adult
April 18, 2018
age 12+

love this movie.

a good movie mostly for tweens and teens. not bad. the eighties a feel good time. one f word used but like I said its for tweens and teens so its all good.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

The coveted LICENSE TO DRIVE is considered a 16-year-old boy's ticket to freedom. Les (Corey Haim) fails his DMV test but is too ashamed to admit it to his family and friends. He's also too ashamed to tell his dream date, Mercedes (Heather Graham), that he can't pick her up that night and take her out. With seemingly no consideration of possible negative consequences, Les plots to pick her up anyway. He slides his grandfather's pristine Cadillac secretly out of the garage and lets it roll into the bushes, wrecking the garden. Much more wrecking is ahead as he makes one terrible decision after another. Due to his irresponsibility, the car is towed, driven through a barrier, and stolen by a drunk who stops it at a cliff just before the car falls over. Drunk Mercedes is stashed in the large trunk while Les and his pals drive to a local diner to pick up girls. Cops stop him. Drag racers threaten him and a steel beam slams into the Caddy's white vinyl roof. Grandpa doesn't even mind. This is a teen fantasy.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (5):

The filmmakers capture the embarrassment suburban teens feel when they yearn for independence but lack the wheels to achieve it. It would be difficult for any adult to watch License to Drive without experiencing an unending series of anxiety attacks. For health reasons, adults are therefore cautioned. That said, the movie undermines that legitimate observation with a celebration of the prefrontal lobes, the part of the teenage brain that is too underdeveloped to prevent impulse control. And that overkill is followed by one long car chase, the last refuge of a director who doesn't know what else to do. Teens may enjoy watching peers make bad decisions but most will understand that stealing Grandpa's prized car and driving without a license are activities bound, in real life, to result in an unpleasant aftermath. Although Les lies and drives illegally, he does avoid the behaviors modeled in many popular teen films -- smoking, drinking, bullying, doing drugs, and having sex. In any case, it's odd that after getting away with lying and destroying the car, Les jumps into his girlfriend's car right in front of his parents and drives off, still, we have to assume, without a license.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how likely it is that any one teenager could possibly perform as many irresponsible acts in a single night as Les does in License to Drive. Do you think the overkill is what makes this funny?

  • Les wants to impress a girl, so he drives without a license. Later he locks her in the trunk so he can meet other girls that same night. What would be the real-life consequences of doing something like this?

  • After the adventure, his father mentions that the mom and dad will no longer trust Les, but in the end, Les is forgiven. Do you think the ending is unrealistic? Do you think Les deserved punishment? Why?

Movie Details

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