Driveways: NZIFF Review

Driveways is one of the New Zealand International Film Festival's unmissable films.

The achingly intimate small-scale story from director Andrew Ahn concerns a young Asian boy's friendship with his elderly neighbour, played by Brian Dennehy.

It may be one of Dennehy's last roles, but that sentiment is not the reason to adore Driveways.

It's the story of 8 year old Cody (Lucas Jaye) who's dragged to a new town with his mum Kathy (Hong Chau) after she has to clear out her dead sister's home.

Next door is former Korea war vet Del (Dennehy), a grouchy and widowed old man. Grudgingly, and out of circumstance, Del ends up being part of their lives, and Cody forms an unexpected bond with him.

Sweet, innocent and profoundly moving even though nothing really happens, Driveways is a timeless film of connection that doesn't rely on cheap narrative tricks or reveals to detonate an emotional timebomb in its final frames.

Both Dennehy and Jaye underplay their roles massively, with the script offering them moments of visual nuances rather than verbal subtlety. It's the kind of film where a look says more than anything, and it's one whose final frame will utterly destroy you.

Driveways is a gentle easy watch, made stronger by Chau, Dennehy and Jaye, who cement the growing bond between the two families.  That's not to dismiss it - in fact, it's the opposite as this is where the film's power lies. There are simplicities to the relationships formed by children and there are also complexities in how the script slowly reveals what's under the surface.

Every frame drips with sincerity and heart, and it's this veracity that makes Driveways a powerfully understated film, one that's packed with a bittersweet final feeling.