Bobby Farrelly's "Driver's Ed" follows a familiar formula that barely registers. Sam Nivola stars as a teenager who steals a driver's education vehicle and takes his friends on a joyride to reconnect with his girlfriend. The setup promises the kind of raucous teen comedy that worked for Farrelly in the '90s and early 2000s with films like "Road Trip" and "There's Something About Mary," but the execution lands flat.
The film trades on nostalgia for that era of comedy without understanding what made those movies work. Where "American Pie" and "Road Trip" generated genuine laughs through character specificity and comic timing, "Driver's Ed" relies on generic beats and predictable scenarios. The joyride premise has been done countless times, and Farrelly's latest approach adds nothing inventive to the formula.
Nivola carries the film as the lead but works with thin material that doesn't allow much character development. The ensemble cast of friends feels interchangeable, lacking the chemistry that could elevate the script's shortcomings. Farrelly, once a reliable hit-maker with the Wayans brothers and Jim Carrey, struggles to inject life into the proceedings.
The film's throwback sensibility could have worked as parody or loving homage. Instead, it comes across as a rote recreation of beats audiences have seen recycled across dozens of teen comedies. There's no fresh perspective on the genre, no subversive angle, and no genuine comedic spark that distinguishes it from its predecessors.
"Driver's Ed" arrives at a moment when audiences have grown savvier about comedy. The earnest stupidity that carried films like "Road Trip" doesn't land the same way when recycled without self-awareness or innovation. Farrelly's instincts once felt sharp. Here, they