‘Driving Miss Daisy’: The Oscar-winning movie its director hasn’t seen since it was released
While the Academy Awards have been no stranger to controversy over the decades, a quaint drama crafted with a lightness of touch doesn’t immediately stand out as one that would ignite a long-running debate. And yet, it’s become a key part of the legacy of Driving Miss Daisy.
Bruce Beresford’s 1989 adaptation of Alfred Uhry’s play of the same name largely unfolds as a two-hander between Jessica Tandy’s elderly widow, Daisy Werthan, and her driver, Hoke Colburn, played by Morgan Freeman. Their initially frosty relationship thaws over the years as they become more familiar with each other, eventually evolving into a firm friendship that defies the social conventions of the time.
On paper, Driving Miss Daisy seemed precision-engineered to be a feel-good hit, and that’s technically what it was. In addition to recouping its production budget almost 25 times over at the global box office, it won four Oscars from nine nominations, including ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Actress’.
However, these days, it’s regarded as one of the least-deserving ‘Best Picture’ winners in the history of the ceremony, matters that weren’t helped by Kim Basinger calling out the omission of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing on stage. The Hollywood Reporter even polled hundreds of Academy members a decade and a half later, and the consensus was that of the films nominated alongside Driving Miss Daisy, My Left Foot should have won instead.
Director Bruce Beresford was fully aware that not everyone was thrilled with his movie, even if it marked the peak of his professional career. As he acknowledged in an interview with Vulture, “I read an article saying it was the worst film to ever win the Academy Award for ‘Best Picture’.” Self-effacingly, he remarked: “No, it’s the second worst. The worst is Cavalcade, made in 1932.”
Even though a film he directed scooped the top prize Hollywood has to offer, Beresford admitted, “I haven’t seen Driving Miss Daisy since it was released”. He may not have revisited it by choice, but it can’t be a great feeling for a filmmaker to have seen one of their works reach the pinnacle of the industry, only to spend the subsequent decades being blasted as an unworthy recipient.
When questioned by his own daughter on not just the controversy but whether Do the Right Thing should have won ‘Best Picture’ despite being snubbed outright, Beresford still refused to take a side: “It was a good film. I liked it,” he said. “Should it have? I don’t know, perhaps it should have. No matter, I am proud of my film.”
He called the debate over the merits of Driving Miss Daisy as a whole “kind of absurd”, but having directed a Best Picture-winning movie, it can’t be argued that he did what was asked of him.
