Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Bruce Beresford

Writers (WGA):

Alfred Uhry (play)
Alfred Uhry (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 January 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The comedy that won a Pulitzer Prize

Plot:

An old Jewish woman and her African-American chauffeur in the American South have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.

Plot Keywords:

Jewish | American South | 1950s | Chauffeur | Widow

Awards:

Won 4 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Morgan Freeman	...	Hoke Colburn
Jessica Tandy	...	Daisy Werthan
Dan Aykroyd	...	Boolie Werthan
Patti LuPone	...	Florine Werthan
Esther Rolle	...	Idella
Joann Havrilla	...	Miss McClatchey
William Hall Jr.	...	Oscar
Alvin M. Sugarman	...	Dr. Weil
Clarice F. Geigerman	...	Nonie
Muriel Moore	...	Miriam
Sylvia Kaler	...	Beulah
Carolyn Gold	...	Neighbor Lady
Crystal R. Fox	...	Katie Bell
Bob Hannah	...	Red Mitchell
Ray McKinnon	...	Trooper #1

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | Dolby Digital (DVD version)

Certification:

Germany:6 | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 (DVD rating) | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating) | Brazil:Livre | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:PG (#29912) | West Germany:6 | Singapore:PG | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:F (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

822 Lullwater Road, Druid Hills, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Majestic Films International

Trivia:

The role of Florine, played by Patti LuPone, is not in the original play "Driving Miss Daisy". It was written in by playwright and screenwriter Alfred Uhry specifically for LuPone, who, Uhry felt, looked good in a costume.

Goofs:

Continuity: The bombing of The Temple in Atlanta took place in 1958, yet is shown as occurring in 1966 or later (because it is shown after the scene in which Boolie receives an award in 1966).

Quotes:

[Hoke and Boolie are at the nursing home visiting Daisy. Daisy appears unwilling to speak much]
Boolie Werthan: Hoke, I thought of you the other day on the expressway. I saw an Avondale Milk truck. Monster of a thing, must have had about sixteen wheels.
Hoke Colburn: You don't say!
Boolie Werthan: I was wondering how you'd like drivin' that thing around!
Daisy Werthan: [to Boolie] Hoke came to see me, not you!
Hoke Colburn: Look like one o' her good days!
Daisy Werthan: Boolie, go charm the nurses!
Boolie Werthan: [smiling] She wants you all to herself.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch: Driving Mr. Goodman (#6.21)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

JINGLE BELLS

Beautifully made Oscar winner

"Driving Miss Daisy" is one of the nicest movies ever made. Winner of 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture of 1989, "Driving Miss Daisy" is about a black man who goes to work as a chauffeur for a stubborn old Jewish woman. Morgan Freeman and the late Jessica Tandy give brilliant performances in the lead roles, and they've never been better. I sure do miss seeing the presence of Tandy in the movies. She was good in just about everything she did in both feature and TV movies (her heart in acting always belonged to the stage). She very deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Miss Daisy, a person who at first is not happy about this man coming into her life but learns to accept it and forms a real special friendship. Freeman is every bit her match here as Hoke, the chauffeur. The exchanges between the two in the beginning are very funny and very touching at the end. Dan Aykroyd takes on a rare serious role in "Driving Miss Daisy" as Tandy's son Boolie, a businessman who hires Hoke to be Miss Daisy's driver. And the late Esther Rolle (of TV's "Good Times" and "Maude") has a nice small part as Miss Daisy's maid. When this movie came out in late 1989 it was guaranteed many Oscar nominations. Then the nominations came out in February 1990 and "Driving Miss Daisy" got the most with 9 nominations. But one nomination was missing: Best Director. And what a gyp that was! Bruce Beresford did a terrific job of directing "Driving Miss Daisy" and to this day I will never understand why the Academy didn't nominate him. The Academy voters for the Best Director category got stupid that year and Beresford was omitted unfairly. This is a terrific movie and the director should have been nominated. Richard Zanuck, one of the producers of "Driving Miss Daisy", said something in March 1990 when accepting the Best Picture Oscar for this movie along with the other producer and real-life wife Lili Fini Zanuck that I completely agree with. He said quote: "Were up here for one very simple reason and that's the fact that Bruce Beresford is a brilliant director. It's as simple as that!" And "Driving Miss Daisy" is proof. It's a great movie.

**** (out of four)