Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

"Driving Miss Daisy" is so quiet and genteel that it threatens to evaporate right off the screen.

The source material is well written and carries with it a certain poignancy and power, but one suspects that it carried even more power on stage. The impression left by the film is that director Bruce Beresford had trouble filling out the screen.

He does get nice performances from his actors, though, especially Jessica Tandy as the title character, a privileged white woman through whose unique perspective we see the gradual changes wrought by the civil rights movement. Morgan Freeman is her chauffeur, and he does the gentle sage routine that seemed fresh at the time because we hadn't yet realized that that's all he would do for the next twenty years. And Dan Aykroyd takes an uncharacteristic stroll through more dramatic terrain as Miss Daisy's son.

"Driving Miss Daisy" is a pleasant enough movie, but the fact that it won the 1989 Academy Award for Best Picture, more than emphasizing the quality of this particular film, points out the lack of quality of everything else that year.

Grade: B

Fmovies: This is a film about a lot of things - old age, relationships, assimilation and change. Some will say its too saccherine, or not a realistic look at the civil rights struggle, but they miss the point. Miss Daisy is part of a smaller minority within a majority; while not mistreated the way Hoke would be, she's still an outsider. It takes her until the end of the movie (and, since she's in her 90's, her life) to realize that she and Hoke are perhaps more similar than they thought.

I recall that Dan Aykroyd did the role of Booley for union scale pay, he was so anxious to play a serious role; it paid off handsomely, as Dan was nominated for an academy award. Tandy is wonderful, and I don't think it's humanly possible for Morgan Freeman to turn in a bad performance. Some have criticized Freeman for being such a subservient character, but they also miss the point of what it was to be an older black servant in the 1950's. A fine effort and a great family movie.

Maybe 'the Shawshank Redemption' (1994) (qv) is a bigger, better, more brazen film, with far more pretensions, and is, of course, an excellent film: but I cannot avoid thinking that it is in 'Driving Miss Daisy' that Morgan Freeman develops his best rôle, playing so well opposite the unrepeatable Jessica Landry. I have not seen all of Freeman's films, nor do I wish to. Of those I have seen he is more or less 'O.K.' as you might say; What makes 'Driving Miss Daisy' work is the human and humane compassion and sympathy flowing between the two lead actors, with Dan Ackroyd, surprisingly, and Esther Rolle both lending a good hand. One might argue that it is 'only' an oversweetened sentimental story; be that as it may, the film endeavours to portray the aging relationship between the white Jewish rich woman and her poor black chauffeur throughout 25 years. And Jessica Landry was over eighty years old when she made this film. In this aspect, evidently the film succeeds, as the story itself is really of secondary importance: it is the beautifully filmed scenes and the dialogues which build up to something greater than the story per se. In an age dominated by cinema stuffed with violence, sex, special effects and so on, here is an example without such measures, relying on pure acting and interpretative skills so as to tell a clean simple story. You might well like to compare this film with Lindsay Anderson's 'The Whales of August' (1987) (qv), with an absolutely unrepeatable cast with Lillian Gish, Bette Davis, Vincent Price and Ann Sothern: a delicious retrospective piece. 'Driving Miss Daisy' was meticulously made, with all those cars of the 50's and 60's and the careful scene settings, brought out by excellent photography, and all backed up by what must be Hans Zimmer's most appropriate and touching score. His score was also good in that tremendous film 'Thelma and Louise' as well as in 'The House of the Spirits' and 'Beyond Rangoon' (1995) (qv). 'Driving Miss Daisy' is one of those videos in my collection which I am pleased to blow the dust off and watch yet again: it is still as charming as ever.

Driving Miss Daisy fmovies. Why spend millions of dollars on special effects and scenes, when the actors still are most important? This movie proves all that. This movie gives a strong feeling of being back in a time I`ve never experienced myself. It is somewhere in my consciousness. This is a cozy comedy for the whole family. This film is much about how our daily life meets new inputs, and how we deal with it. Time doesn`t change, it is our daily lifes inputs. This serious comedy is as deep as it is easy, because it is more about ourselves than we sometimes think. Enjoy the art, the music, the lovely seasons.. 10 out of 10.

While Driving Miss Daisy isn't what i call a best picture winner, since there were more deserving movies that came out that year, but the movie shouldn't get hate just for that.

The movie is sweet, charming and heartwarming. This is the kind of film that granny's go to watch and after it's over their something like "That was nice". Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy were excellent in this movie, as both of them had great chemistry and very entertaining conversations between them.

It dose get kind of dull at times and i do wish the films pasting was a bit better, but that's just me. I say it's worth checking out, because there's plenty of things to like and appreciate in this movie.

Looking for a great, in-yer-face fast-moving action THRILLER? Driving Miss Daisy ain't it.

Looking for a great MOVIE? You're in the right place.

"Driving Miss Daisy" charts the subtly-shifting relationship between "Miss Daisy," a very reluctantly aging Jewish lady who's no longer able to drive for herself, and her new (and, as you can expect, rather unwelcome!) driver -- a not-terribly-young-himself Black guy (or African-American guy, whichever you prefer) named Hoke.

Bear in mind this is the Deep South of the 1950's and 60's we're talking about here, and the racial attitudes and prejudices of that time make for fascinating background -- as does the whole general culture, which I believe was well portrayed.

The directors frankly took on some delicate racial subject matter here (and certainly the racial divide in those days was very deep indeed) -- but they handled it with remarkable skill. I think they succeeded so well because they brought you into the lives of people as people, not just as cardboard stereotypes. Long before the movie is over, you find yourself really caring about the two main characters -- Daisy and Hoke.

This is a movie about life, relationships, and people. You see some good things -- and also some very human weaknesses, not the least of which is sheer stubborn pride.

I personally was a child of the deep South, and I appreciate movies such as this one and Jessica Tandy's other wonderful movie Fried Green Tomatoes (which is in some ways very similar) which give us a glimpse into the culture of those days. There are definitely things we can learn from the past, and there are also things we can learn from watching how people change over the course of their lives.

Several moments from this movie stand out, some of which are funny, some sobering, and some of which are particularly moving:

The scene involving Dr. Martin Luther King.

The unashamedly bigoted comments of a 50's or 60's police officer.

A great scene involving Hoke and Miss Daisy's businessman son.

An incredible scene in which Jessica Tandy portrays the aging Miss Daisy.

And, perhaps most of all, what Miss Daisy says to Hoke towards the end of the movie.

Now personally, I love action movies so well that I was initially reluctant even to watch this one. This is not a movie of action, but it IS a movie of substance and beauty, mixed with some funny moments.

The acting is great, the script and directing are beautifully done, and the substance, humor and beauty are such that overall, I consider "Driving Miss Daisy," one of the best movies I've ever seen.