A spasso con Daisy

After watching this film for the second time I realized just how important the affection that occurs between Hoke and Daisy really is. What grows between these two is something most people only wish to have in their lives. What is so special about it, though?

From the beginning of their relationship, the two are forced to be together. Daisy is forced to have a driver and Hoke is hired on for that position. For both, the relationship is one out of need. Hoke needs a paying job and Daisy needs a driver in her old age (although, she would never admit it to anyone especially herself).

As time goes by, though, Daisy's need of Hoke becomes clearer to herself. She begins to depend on him. This is definitely made clear at the end when Hoke is feeding Daisy her pumpkin pie, and she enjoys each bite fully.

Another aspect of the movie which got to me was the great array of choices the director made with the filming. Hoke is a character of very few words but teaches Daisy so much. Morgan Freeman's acting in this character is amazing. The knowledge he shows within his eyes is one reason I almost felt closer to him than Daisy did throughout the first half of the movie. In a way, he teaches her a new way of life. He does so by showing himself truly and honestly.

Another choice the director made was in the symbolic way the film was made. The beauty of the many seasons is shown through the changes of the landscape. The trees transform from winter to spring and the streets go from sheets of ice to warm asphalt. And the cars get larger and more high tech. Time is so important in Daisy's and Hoke's affection/friendship that this is a great way to show that.

There are so many aspects of this film which I could go on and on about. It is a wonderful film of which any person can get a fulfilling movie watching experience out of. They can also learn a lot from it, too! Watch it.

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.

Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy (in Oscar Winning performance) invoke grace and dignity in this sensitive treatment of race relations and old age. Freeman stars as a gentle, wise black chauffeur in the service of a spunky Jewish widow, played by Tandy. As the years pass, their relationship evolves into a remarkable friendship despite their different backgrounds.

The film is skillfully adapted from the award-winning play, unfolding against the backdrop of civil rights changes in the South. Somewhat simplistic to be considered a strong statement about race relations, the Best Picture/Best Screenpaly Oscar Winner makes a heartwarming effort to give witness to dignified aging.

Freeman was never better, and the chemistry between the two leads is simply beautiful to watch. This is a very special cinema experience.

I appreciated the fact that this film doesn't resort to overt lines of dialogue or actions to make its point. It relies on simple gestures and nuanced acting to convey its messages. Freeman and Tandy are excellent in doing this and are the driving force of the film. It goes at its own leisurely pace, which you can kind of respect. Though it it does seem to drag a little even with its short running time. Driving Miss Daisy is a pretty prototypical Best Picture winner for an old, sentimental Academy who respond to warm, old-fashioned films.

When Jessica Tandy won her Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy a lot of people forget this was hardly the first southern lady that the British born Tandy played. On Broadway Jessica was the original Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire and was the only one of the original cast who didn't make the trip to Hollywood with Vivien Leigh playing Blanche and winning a second Oscar for it. But there is a universe of difference between Blanche Dubois and Daisy Werthing and it ain't just age.

In fact Tandy may play the only role film history where you start at 70 and then age in the part. She's a genteel southern woman, but formidable who happens to be Jewish. One day she has an accident and emerges unhurt, but the car is wrecked and son Dan Aykroyd decides that his mother needs a chauffeur.

An idea not pleasing to Tandy as she's used to doing for herself. Even the presence of Esther Rolle as a cook was upsetting to her, but Rolle toughed it out and became a household fixture. So when Aykroyd hires Morgan Freeman to be a driver, Freeman will have his work cut out for him.

The success of Driving Miss Daisy is really dependent on the chemistry between Tandy and Freeman. You haven't got that and the film would sink. Fortunately they click beautifully together.

Author Alfred Uhry grew up in the Atlanta of the time and Atlanta was relatively a beacon of some light in the cracker and segregated south of the time. Mayor William B. Hartsfield of the period always advertised his city as the one too busy to hate. Given the parameters of the times, Hartsfield moved to gradually end segregation and to improve the services for Atlanta's black population. Hartsfield is mentioned in passing in the film. Remember Tandy's character is Jewish, a people not looked on too fondly either by a lot of the Deep South. But in Atlanta they have some measure of safety.

Uhry's memories yielded him a Pulitzer Prize winning play and an Academy Award Best film. He also got an Oscar for adapting his off Broadway success to the screen. Of course Jessica Tandy became the oldest player to ever receive an acting Oscar. And Driving Miss Daisy also got an Oscar for Best Makeup.

And it was nominated for Best Art&Set Direction, Best Editing, Best Costumes with Oscar nods for Morgan Freeman for Best Actor and Dan Aykroyd for Best Supporting Actor.

For Freeman his best moment comes when on a trip to Mobile,Alabama with Tandy he puts up with the indignities and humiliation of segregation and exposes Tandy to a world she really wasn't aware of. And Tandy got her Oscar for the moment when she and those around her realize that Alzheimer's Disease has gotten control. For an elderly player to even contemplate such a thing that could so easily happen to them must be a nerve wracking experience. Jessica Tandy saw in her life such colleagues as Rita Hayworth, Dana Andrews, and Edmond O'Brien among others lose their last few years and careers to the long lingering twilight of Alzheimer's, no doubt she drew from all of them and her own fears that it could happen to her to deliver this performance.

Driving Miss Daisy is one of the best films of the last half of the last century and one that will be studied and revived for years to come. Budding actors who need chemistry lessons should study what is working between Tandy and Freeman.