EDITOR’S NOTE: License to Drive was not produced by Cannon and was theatrically distributed by 20th Century Fox in the U.S., but in the Netherland, it was distributed Cannon Releasing Corporation. I must like this movie, because I wrote an entirely new article about it despite writing about it back on June 12, 2021.

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Greg Beeman was a major creative force on the TV shows Smallville and Dark Skies. But before that, he directed License to Drive, which was written by Neil Tolkin.

It’s the most simple of teenage stories: Les Anderson (Corey Haim) wants a driver’s license to impress his dream girl Mercedes Lane (Heather Graham). She gets drunk, his grandfather’s Cadillac gets totaled, Les’ friends Dean (Corey Feldman) and Charles (Michael Manasseri) do even more damage to it. But hey if you were a teenager in 1988 — I was 16, so I was definitely the target audience — this probably spoke to you.

Big points to the filmmakers for casting Carol Kane and Richard Masur as Les’ parents. Also, between “Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car” by Billy Ocean, a cover of “Drive My Car” by Breakfast Club and “Mercedes Boy” by Pebbles, this has some of the most expected needle drops ever. Sammy Hagar must have been waiting for the call, because he had the perfect song.