- Jubilee offer: spend £10 or more on any product sold by Amazon.co.uk on or before June 6 and you can buy The Diamond Jubilee A Classical Celebration Album for just £2.50 Here's how (terms and conditions apply)
Special Offers and Product Promotions
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Reviews
Product Description
Bev (Jessica Hynes) is a downtrodden wife whos failed her driving test eight times. Desperate to pass, she feels frustrated by her husband Ians (Shaun Dingwall) approach in teaching her to drive. Inspired by glamorous driving school owner Fiona (Sarah Hadland), Bev is determined to succeed along with a group of other learner drivers. Chris (David Tennant), a devout Christian with the patience of a saint, is assigned as her instructor and its not long before Bev develops a crush on him, despite his geeky appearance.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Bev is a downtrodden housewife who's failed her driving test eight times, having only been instructed by her impatient husband Ian. After registering with a driving school, she develops a crush on her instructor, Chris. | ...Learners
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
My husband and I had heard about "Learners" and are big fans of Dr Who but hadn't planned to watch this. We caught the beginning by accident and ended up abandoning plans to watch a dvd as it was so good.
Wonderfully written characters who are quirky and real, a lovely story and something we will definitely watch again. My only complaint is that it didn't last longer!
I'd definitely watch anything else Jessica Hynes writes in future.
Wonderfully written characters who are quirky and real, a lovely story and something we will definitely watch again. My only complaint is that it didn't last longer!
I'd definitely watch anything else Jessica Hynes writes in future.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I saw Learners when it was first broadcast, and liked it but not enough to buy it till the price had dropped a bit.
On second viewing it was better than I remembered. There are some great comedy moments, some touching scenes, and it is a good cast with no real weak links even down to the really rather small roles of the driving school's other learners and Bev's workmates. ("Ukrainian Ivana" is fantastic!)
I was especially impressed with the two children: good performances from these two youngsters.
Anyone who has seen David Tennant in anything else will not be at all surprised to learn that he plays geeky-but-cute driving instructor ably, with his usual wonderful comic timing and also his ability to convey compassion, pathos and sadness seemingly at will.
Hynes is sometimes a touch shrill but often very funny as multi-failing learner driver Bev. This is not maybe quite as convincing a performance or writing as she has produced elsewhere (notably in Spaced with Simon Pegg); it's above average, just not quite to her usual high standards. She does have some lovely moments, both comic and serious, and she pulls off several scenes that are very important to her character with aplomb.
Shaun Dingwell is also good as her longsuffering husband, though his character seems to flip between a sympathetic man who we pity and a bit of a good for nothing grumbler who shouts at his wife for being no good at driving. Realistic to a certain extent, but the two sides of this role never really mesh; a common problem with several of the characters.
The script is a little uneven, and I think many of the rough edges are due to this. I would agree with a previous reviewer who remarked that it doesn't know what it wants to be - drama, comedy, love story, what? Some films manage to pull all these different genres off in one package, Learners never really manages it. It's funny, sweet, mostly quite light-hearted, with some good performances, and is certainly nice feel-good, above average telly, but it can't quite pull itself up into excellent.
The DVD is very plain and simple (the disc doesn't even have the right rating on it, or did I get a duff one?), with scene selection and optional subtitles. Great picture and sound, but it does seem an opportunity missed - am I the only one who longs for a set of bloopers and unintended improvs from this great comic cast? That alone would have been worth the purchase price!
Don't expect brilliance; overall, though, it's very enjoyable fluff, which I am sure I will watch again whenever I need a bit of feelgood comedy. Well worth a fiver, and 4 stars for a brilliant cast and a good if flawed script.
On second viewing it was better than I remembered. There are some great comedy moments, some touching scenes, and it is a good cast with no real weak links even down to the really rather small roles of the driving school's other learners and Bev's workmates. ("Ukrainian Ivana" is fantastic!)
I was especially impressed with the two children: good performances from these two youngsters.
Anyone who has seen David Tennant in anything else will not be at all surprised to learn that he plays geeky-but-cute driving instructor ably, with his usual wonderful comic timing and also his ability to convey compassion, pathos and sadness seemingly at will.
Hynes is sometimes a touch shrill but often very funny as multi-failing learner driver Bev. This is not maybe quite as convincing a performance or writing as she has produced elsewhere (notably in Spaced with Simon Pegg); it's above average, just not quite to her usual high standards. She does have some lovely moments, both comic and serious, and she pulls off several scenes that are very important to her character with aplomb.
Shaun Dingwell is also good as her longsuffering husband, though his character seems to flip between a sympathetic man who we pity and a bit of a good for nothing grumbler who shouts at his wife for being no good at driving. Realistic to a certain extent, but the two sides of this role never really mesh; a common problem with several of the characters.
The script is a little uneven, and I think many of the rough edges are due to this. I would agree with a previous reviewer who remarked that it doesn't know what it wants to be - drama, comedy, love story, what? Some films manage to pull all these different genres off in one package, Learners never really manages it. It's funny, sweet, mostly quite light-hearted, with some good performances, and is certainly nice feel-good, above average telly, but it can't quite pull itself up into excellent.
The DVD is very plain and simple (the disc doesn't even have the right rating on it, or did I get a duff one?), with scene selection and optional subtitles. Great picture and sound, but it does seem an opportunity missed - am I the only one who longs for a set of bloopers and unintended improvs from this great comic cast? That alone would have been worth the purchase price!
Don't expect brilliance; overall, though, it's very enjoyable fluff, which I am sure I will watch again whenever I need a bit of feelgood comedy. Well worth a fiver, and 4 stars for a brilliant cast and a good if flawed script.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
As someone trying to get through my test, I was looking forward to this as a bit of light entertainment. Bev has failed her test eight times and is hoping that her new instructor (David Tennant) can help her pass.
It started out well. Bev was likeable and her driving made for some real comedy moments. However, I did feel that the scriptwriter couldn't quite decide if it was a comedy or a drama. At times, there were some genuinely touching moments, but on the whole, this is really only an average programme. There wasn't really enough of David Tennant's character and far too much of the Buddest driving school owner, who started out being horrible and then rapidly had a personality transplant.
I feel that this was a good effort, but there was something missing. Certainly enjoyable, but instantly forgettable.
It started out well. Bev was likeable and her driving made for some real comedy moments. However, I did feel that the scriptwriter couldn't quite decide if it was a comedy or a drama. At times, there were some genuinely touching moments, but on the whole, this is really only an average programme. There wasn't really enough of David Tennant's character and far too much of the Buddest driving school owner, who started out being horrible and then rapidly had a personality transplant.
I feel that this was a good effort, but there was something missing. Certainly enjoyable, but instantly forgettable.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Learners
Although not a brilliant film we thoroughly enjoyed it mainly because of David Tennant. He is such a good actor and in this film he plays the nerd to perfection. Read more
Published 1 month ago by E. Lombard
Above-average drama; nice little curiosity for Doctor Who viewers
This is a good, solid, above-average drama which veers - rather like Bev's driving - between drama and comedy. Read more
Published 22 months ago by jsteph
Very disappointing
I bought this DVD as I am a fan of David Tennant. I've always taken the view that anything he is in is going to be excellent but I could not believe how bad this one is. Read more
Published on 7 May 2010 by Amanda
Sweet
I bought this for David Tennant's appearance, but the entire cast was very good. The movie is a sweet story.
Published on 6 Jun 2009 by Harry Fan
Learners
Being a David Tennant fan anyway, not because he is Dr. Who but because he is a versatile actor, my heart was warmed by yet another example of him bringing a character to life in... Read more
Published on 13 April 2009 by Maria Fischer
Geeks r Us
It stars DT, he's brilliant, what else do you need to know? If you are an avid fan this is a great addition to your collection. Read more
Published on 2 April 2009 by Ms. S. Griffin
A Gentle Comedy with Likeable Characters
Although I believe this didn't get wide critical acclaim, I find it very enjoyable - and that's not just because of the presence of David Tennant, although obviously that's a... Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2009 by Ruth Fanshaw
Learners
Learners is such a sweet and funny movie. All the actors did their best to make that movie a real *feel good* movie. Read more
Published on 11 Feb 2009 by L. Uhrig
Incredible!
I was looking forward to this being on the TV so much, as at the time I was trying to pass my driving test. As a big David Tennant fan I knew it would be good. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2008 by L. Lambourne
hilarious
i thought learners was great. Being a big fan of david tennant i just had to watch it. the characters jessica hynes has created are brilliant. Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2008 by Ms. G. C. Mellor
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
