‘Oh yeah, yeah I know my ABC’s pretty good, just can’t read…’
I recently had a nice thought that I might watch all the films that had won the coveted Best Picture gong at the Oscars, but then when I checked the list it turned out I have seen most of the ones that I have any kind of interest in. I’m never watching The Last Emperor am I, realistically? Nor am I likely to be tuning into Chicago any time soon. Driving Miss Daisy was the first candidate on the list that appealed, and the presence of Dan Aykroyd and Morgan Freeman swayed it for me. I probably shouldn’t have bothered…
Daisy (Jessica Tandy) is a miserable old bitch who is forced to hire a driver (Morgan Freeman) by her successful but absent son Boolie (Dan Aykroyd). Daisy becomes less of a bitch (kind of) because her driver can’t read or some such nonsense. It’s the basic odd couple that cinema has served up a thousand times before. Why the Academy saw fit to bestow four Oscars upon Driving Miss Daisy is a question that deserves consideration.
Let me emphasise however that Driving Miss Daisy is by no means a bad movie. It’s fine. Freeman is great if a little over the top with all his ‘yes maams’ and Tandy revels in the snarky outbursts that define the titular Miss Daisy but this film suffers from the benefit of hindsight. The Intouchables, The Fundamentals of Caring and Green Book have all covered this same ground in recent years in a way that is much more effective. Indeed, Driving Miss Daisy must have felt like a relic even upon its release back in 1989, nevermind in 2020.
And so, this probably marks the end of the great Best Picture winner experiment. Some of these films have been left in the past for a reason. Driving Miss Daisy has very little to offer by today’s standards.