Driving Miss Daisy
| Driving Miss Daisy | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Bruce Beresford |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by | Alfred Uhry |
| Based on |
Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
| Cinematography | Peter James |
| Edited by | Mark Warner |
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Production
company |
The Zanuck Company
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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Running time
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100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7.5 million |
| Box office | $145.8 million |
Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on Uhry's play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his role from the Original Off-Broadway production. The story defines Daisy and her point of view through a network of relationships and emotions by focusing on her home life, synagogue, friends, family, fears, and concerns over a 25-year period.
At the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990, Driving Miss Daisy received nine nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Actress (Jessica Tandy), Best Makeup, and Best Adapted Screenplay.
In 1948, Mrs. Daisy Werthan, or Miss Daisy (Jessica Tandy), a 72-year-old wealthy, white, Jewish, widowed, retired school teacher, lives alone in Atlanta, Georgia, except for a African American housemaid named Idella (Esther Rolle). When Miss Daisy wrecks her car, her son, Boolie (Dan Aykroyd), hires Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman), an African American chauffeur. Miss Daisy at first refuses to let anyone else drive her, but gradually gives in.
As Miss Daisy and Hoke spend time together, she gains appreciation for his many skills. After Idella dies in 1962, rather than hire a new maid, Miss Daisy decides to care for her own house and have Hoke do the cooking and the driving.
The film explores racism against black people, which affects Hoke at that time. The film also touches on anti-semitism in the South. After her synagogue is bombed, Miss Daisy realizes that she is also a victim of prejudice (religious). But American society is undergoing radical changes, and Miss Daisy attends a dinner at which Dr. Martin Luther King gives a speech. She initially invites Boolie to the dinner, but he declines, and suggests that Miss Daisy invite Hoke. However, Miss Daisy only asks him to be her guest during the car ride to the event and ends up attending the dinner alone, with Hoke insulted by the manner of the invitation, listening to the speech on the car radio outside.
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