Taking the Wheel

Taking the Wheel packs more humanity into ten minutes than any other short film I have seen (and, for that matter, more than a lot of feature films manage in 2 hours).

John Cleese plays the flustered son of a headstrong woman who can't admit that her driving days are over. He receives a warning that his mother's reckless (but not wreckless) driving has become a danger to herself and to others, so he must attempt the impossible: taking her keys without breaking her heart. Patience Cleveland shines as Cleese's beloved maternal nemesis.

David Ackerman's directorial debut is remarkably successful in what it sets out to achieve - to address a heavy fact of life with a light heart, and trickster smarts.

Catch it in film festivals worldwide or on HBO.