At the start of Noah Baumbach’s ‘Background Noise’ we see a smug dissertation of the American obsession with images of crashing vehicles, trying to dissect the strange euphoria that comes from watching a disaster at the same time that it prepares the viewer for the spectacular accident that is coming. It is one of the many ideas that the film launches but remain half-baked.
However, temporal causality made it coincide in its premiere with a series that tries to explore, with more dramatic care and empathy, that Impact of the automotive audiovisual on the viewer which he then proceeds to drive. Without being the main idea, it manages to be a very interesting resource that magnifies the interesting virtues it already presents. This series is ‘I don’t like driving’.
Danger behind the wheel
Borja Cobeaga’s series for TNT, available to watch through Movistar+, was one of those discreet premieres at the end of the year that, however, are much more remarkable than what is intuited at first glance. Of course, a certain sector of critics did not miss their findings, with recognition in the Feroz both as a comedy series and in the acting categories for Juan Diego Botto (great casting decision) and David Lorente (priceless secondary).
The premise is as simple as it is effective. Botto is a stuffy university professor of literature who decides get a driver’s license after the age of forty for reasons that will be revealed in the first episode. She takes the theoretical exam and will start practical classes with a completely different teacher, and will also face various prejudices for starting to learn to drive so late.
With this format, Cobeaga presents an emotional story of “it’s never too late to start” that is especially fresh on different fronts. The short comedy chapter format is expanded in nuances, implementing drama and narrative qualities that Cobeaga has been developing over the years (as in the also fabulous ‘Vota Juan’). He manages to make a very interesting study of the character from the jokes and the small moments, which make up a series with happy place qualities.
‘I don’t like driving’: a pleasant surprise
The use of images from the educational program ‘La segunda oportunidad’, which made drivers aware with shocking images of traffic accidents, is very intelligently used to explore the psychological state of the protagonist, and is reflective without pretending to be clever. Any decision is thought to serve historyand this one is captivating for it.
Botto’s very interesting casting decision also helps, giving different details to the character and to the series as a whole with respect to what another actor more associated with comedy would do (we could perfectly see Javier Cámara in this role and the series would have been great too, but different). ‘I don’t like driving’ ends up being a pleasant surprise for many reasonswith great supporting roles and very special episodes, also giving a glimpse of that experience that is getting your license (and, by the way, it makes you want to visit Cuenca).
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