Review of Driving Miss Daisy (1989) by Dawdlingpoet — 20 Nov 2021

This is a drama film featuring themes including old age, civil rights, racism and anti semitism. I found it to be an easy watch, with intriguing characters. I thought it was a good example of historical social commentary. I found some of the dialogue quite amusing - Daisy is very much a stubborn, principled lady, who seems very much aware of what she values and how she expects things to be and won't shy away from saying such. The way she argued with him could seem a bit infuriating at times but I liked his come backs (I found myself cheering for him, as he is a bit of an underdog character) and although there is relatively little, content wise, that goes on, I found it very much to be a watchable and entertaining film regardless.

Cast wise, Jessica Tandy plays Daisy. She looks very much the prim and proper type, with quite a sharp tongue. Meanwhile, Morgan Freeman plays Hoke. Given this film was released in 1989, I can only imagine that he had makeup (or otherwise) to age him, as he can't have been as old as his character appeared, I'd have thought but I liked how Hoke responded to Daisy's various jabs and his facial expressions were amusing. He has the look of a relatively older and wiser type - he is quite a philosophical type and I liked that. I'd go so far as to say that their a good match for each other. Meanwhile, an Akroyd plays the son, Boolie and Esther Rolle plays the African American house keeper, Idella.

The music played is classical in style - I suppose it highlighted the fact that Daisy was certainly from the upper classes. I found some plot elements quite touching - I'm not the sort to easily get emotional or find most things touching as such but I definitely did find myself feeling sorry for Hoke and I enjoyed the way the two of them held thoughtful conversations and also some of the more fly-away/impulsive comments made. Hoke has a nice sense of humour that I felt was relatively endearing - its thoughtful to see how different people, of different backgrounds and belonging to different minorities, see things.

Plot pace wise, its a bit slow but I found myself feeling quite intrigued and entertained throughout and I wouldn't say its especially bland or boring as such. If your keen on character driven dramas (pardon the car related pun there!) then you might very well enjoy this.

I found it quite revealing, some of the things that Daisy admitted to Hoke, which gives an insight into what life was like for people such as Daisy and Hoke, at the time its set in (the 1950s). Of course there is inevitably a moral aspect to this film, with racism clearly being depicted and not just racism but anti semitism as well. Its perhaps not the most visually shocking film, given its 'U' rating of course but it could be regarded as a thought provoking film regardless.

Content wise and as I say, there's relatively little in the way of graphic scenes or offensive material, although there are some quite mild domestic incidents (conflicts perhaps may be an applicable term?) depicted and there are some racist terms used, which could (of course) offend people. There are a couple of sad incidents which are spoken of, described by Daisy and Hoke but these are not visually depicted on screen. Otherwise there's nothing really likely to offend or upset people, I'd have thought. Due to this, as I say the film carries a U rating, making it suitable for all, although I imagine very young kids would find this a pretty boring watch, as its not full of special effects or cartoon characters and the like but thats pretty obvious.

I thought the film looked like a TV film - it seemed as if it had been filmed with a low budget, although thats not to say it seemed flimsy or put me off due to it - if anything, its nicely under-stated. It is a bit sad in parts but it is also light hearted and amusing in others, so its a decent all rounder, I suppose, if you know what I mean.

There's little I could think of in terms of criticisms, although the characters do have relatively thick southern American accents, which perhaps some might struggle to hear properly?.

Yes I'd recommend this film, as I felt it was quite touching, with good characters and cast, some witty dialogue, some funny moments and some sad. Its an easy watch and its relatively thought provoking as well.