License to Drive

Sixteen-year-old Les Anderson fails his driving test, but rather than admit it, he tells everyone he passed. When Mercedes Lane, the girl he has been hoping to impress, accepts his invitation to go out, Les takes his family's prized Cadillac without permission and sets off with his friend Dean. The night goes badly wrong, and the borrowed car draws the attention of people who mean it harm.

Greg Beeman directed License to Drive, his first feature, working from a screenplay by Neil Tolkin. The film was produced by John Davis, Andrew Licht and Jeffrey A. Mueller for 20th Century Fox and Davis Entertainment, with a budget of 8 million dollars. Corey Haim plays Les, Corey Feldman plays Dean, Heather Graham plays Mercedes Lane, and Carol Kane, Richard Masur and Michael Manasseri appear among the credited cast of 47. Beeman went on to direct Mom and Dad Save the World, Problem Child 3, Bushwhacked, Horse Sense and Aquaman, among other titles.

Released in the summer of 1988 and running 90 minutes, the film drew a critics' rating of 4.1 out of 10 from 25 reviews, while audiences have been considerably warmer: on IMDb it holds 6.4 out of 10 from around 24,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7 out of 10 from roughly 430 votes.