Driving Miss Daisy **** (1989, Morgan Freeman, Jessica Tandy, Dan Aykroyd) – Classic Movie Review 7047

Director Bruce Beresford’s 1989 comedy drama is based on his own Pulitzer Prize-winning play by screen-writer Alfred Uhry and triumphed at the box office (it took $106 million in the US) and at the Academy Awards, when it won four Oscars – for Best Picture, Best Actress (Jessica Tandy), Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Makeup.

The Oscar-winning Tandy (aged 81) delights as an independent Southern Jewish matron, Miss Daisy Werthan, whose son Boolie (Dan Aykroyd) hires African-American chauffeur Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman) to look after the demanding old lady when she crashes her car (‘my mother’s a little high strung’). Hoke drives Miss Daisy crazy, but eventually they earn each other’s respect.

The three superb performances illuminate Alfred Uhry’s wry and witty screenplay, Beresford’s direction is sleek, and the movie looks good and makes you feel good. It makes its warm-hearted liberal points forcefully, is thoroughly amusing and characterful, and never descends into the merely sentimental.

It is shame that the Oscar-nominated Freeman and Aykroyd were overlooked: it is among their very best work. The Art Direction-Set Decoration (Bruno Rubeo, Crispian Sallis), Costume Design (Elizabeth McBride ) and Film Editing (Mark Warner) were also Oscar-nominated, making it nine nominations in all. It won three Golden Globes: Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Tandy), Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical (Freeman) and Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical. Tandy won the Bafta for Best Actress – its only Bafta and Freeman wasn’t even nominated.

Also in the cast are Patti LuPone, Esther Rolle, William Hall Jr, Joann Havrilla, Alvin M Sugarman, Clarice E Geigerman, Muriel Moore, Sylvia Kaler, Carolyn Gold, Crystal R Fox, Bob Hannah, Ray McKinnon, Ashley Josey, Jack Rousso, Fred Fraser, Indra A Thomas, Dean DuBois and D Taylor Loeb.

Driving Miss Daisy is directed by Bruce Beresford, runs 99 minutes, is made by Zanuck and Majestic, is released by Warner Bros, is written by Alfred Uhry, based on the play by Alfred Uhry, is shot in Technicolor by Peter James, is produced by David Brown, Richard D Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck, is scored by Hans Zimmer and is designed by Bruno Rubeo.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7047

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com