Driveways is a 2019 American drama film directed by Andrew Ahn and starring Hong Chau, Lucas Jaye, and Brian Dennehy, from an original screenplay by playwrights Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen.

[1] Praise focused primarily on two aspects of the film: its depiction of the connections among neighbors, something many people had come to miss due to the social distancing measures taken to control the pandemic, and Dennehy's performance.

[a] Ahn chose Bos and Thureen's script, derived from their childhoods in the Midwest, for his second feature out of a desire to direct something that was an intimate family drama, not written by him.

He also wanted to get away from the gay Korean American milieu in which his debut, Spa Night, was set, although he did later change two main characters from white to Asian for artistic reasons.

Maven Pictures backed the production, and filming took place in summer 2018 in the Hudson Valley region of New York, primarily around Poughkeepsie.

After the success of Spa Night, his feature debut, director Andrew Ahn was looking for his next project to be something more distant from his personal experience.

She found it a departure from the ambitions of most directors of well-regarded debut features, who in her experience want to move on to big-budget franchise pictures.

'"[8] Paul Thureen says the inspiration for the story came from his co-writer Hannah Bos's background working in her mother's antique shop as a child.

[9]: 21:50  Thureen, like Cody, was shy and anxious to the point of vomiting before his own birthday parties or other stressful social events, as a child, leading him to value relationships with adults.

[15]: 16:50 [c] The story was originally set in western Illinois, where writers Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen had grown up.

Ahn found the move to the Hudson Valley of New York, to also be ironic since it led to principal photography taking place mostly in and around Poughkeepsie, where Bos and Thureen had met as students at Vassar College.

[6] Ahn was not comfortable beginning production in 2018 until a pair of houses, both with porches, separated by a driveway, could be found to serve as the film's primary location.

Ahn, the producers and the location scout searched all over the Poughkeepsie area; ultimately they asked a local real estate broker, who turned out to not only know exactly where there was a pair of houses that fit the film's specifications, but was familiar with the families that lived in them.

He believed a "small-town feel" would accentuate the initial wariness Kathy and Cody felt, especially as minorities, who mostly live in cities.

[20] The production's relative proximity to New York City also helped make it possible for Christine Ebersole to play Linda.

[9]: 10:25 Costume designer Matthew Simonelli suggested to Ahn that Cody and Kathy should wear some of the same shirts in different scenes, as the characters had come to town expecting to spend no more than a few days packing up April's house at first and would likely find themselves forced to share clothes when they extended their stay.

Elsewhere in Dutchess County, locations used besides the neighborhood with the two houses included a Hyde Park ice cream stand and roller rink[23] where Hannah Bos, one of the writers, had gone skating while a student at Vassar.

During that time, they developed a rapport that their characters echoed;[20] Ahn recalls that he had to prod Dennehy at some points to be a little more gruff with Jaye.

Ahn was also impressed by how well Chau played Big Buck Hunter; he said it made him want to write an action film for her.

[9]: 44:20 Chau established her own rapport with Dennehy, whom she believes found the shoot physically challenging due to his age and the summer heat.

Since the film's budget was too low for the actors to have individual trailers, Dennehy would relax between his scenes the living room of the house not in use,[20] and talk with the workers at the craft service table, or anyone else there with him.

The site's critic's consensus reads: "Understated yet powerful, Driveways is a character study anchored in fundamental decency—and a poignant farewell to Brian Dennehy.

Dennehy had died a few weeks before, and Phillips took the opportunity to review the actor's stage and screen career, while calling his Driveways performance "marvelous ...

"[30] Rolling Stone's David Fear concurred; after reviewing Dennehy's career he observed: "What we didn't know was that he had one last great turn in him before he'd be gone, one that would remind you of what an imposing presence and, paradoxically, a gentle giant he could be onscreen.

[14] Other critics noted how thematically timely it was due to the separations arising from the pandemic and the social distancing measures mandated to control it.

Suddenly I am nostalgic for things I formerly kind of hated, like surprise visits from nosy neighbors or loud roller-skating rinks", wrote Alissa Wilkinson in Vox.

"For me, a film like Driveways is like a firefly caught in a jar, a small light of something like hope that we can learn from one another and love one another, despite whatever storm is raging in the outside world.

Variety, reviewing the film at the time of its premiere in Berlin, echoed Ahn's hope for the boy's performance in saying Jaye was "always convincing, never cutesy".

"While restraint is generally a wise approach to storytelling, it runs the risk of leaving a narrative so spare the audience cannot connect", he wrote.

A director usually has to trust good actors to add to spare material, but while Ahn's cast was up to that task and he had directed them well, "he and his adorable kid protagonist can't jolt the sleepy narrative out of its familiar comfort zone ... By playing every note sotto voce, Driveways denies its lovingly crafted characters the expressive crescendo they deserve."