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32-464: Driving Miss Daisy is a 1989 American comedy drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry , based on his 1987 play . 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

64-433: A Los Angeles police internal affairs detective investigates a mob meeting that takes place by a pier. He records a shadowy figure who assures the mob they can rely on his political support. Mason is spotted, but escapes. Unaware that he is monitored by corrupt cops, Mason informs his partner, Becker, and his friend Lt. O’Malley that he has evidence of corruption. Mason hides the videotape in his house. When he goes upstairs,

96-437: A black housekeeper, Idella. When Miss Daisy accidentally drives her 1946 Chrysler Windsor into her neighbor's yard, her 40-year-old son, Boolie, buys her a Hudson Commodore and hires 60-year-old Hoke Colburn, a black chauffeur, as Miss Daisy can no longer drive anymore due to her being a high risk with the insurance company. Boolie tells Hoke that Miss Daisy may not appreciate his efforts, but she cannot fire him, because Boolie

128-403: A coma. To prevent the assassins from finishing the job, Lieutenant O'Malley tells the medics to keep Mason's status a secret. Seven years later, Mason wakes from his coma. Andy Stewart ( Kelly LeBrock ), one of his nurses, makes a phone call, which is intercepted by corrupt police officers. They send Axel to finish the job and kill the nurses to whom Mason might have talked. Mason realizes that he

160-409: A death taunt to Capt. Hulland, another corrupt cop who betrayed Mason to Trent, and stalks Hulland through the house before cornering the corrupt captain near the fireplace. Mason then strangles Hulland with his necktie and breaks his neck, killing him as well. Mason finally confronts Senator Trent and holds him at gunpoint when the police storm the mansion. However, they reveal that they had already seen

192-435: A film that looks into the heart." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone also gave the film a positive review, calling Tandy's performance "glorious" and opining, "This is Tandy's finest two hours onscreen in a film career that goes back to 1932." The performances of Tandy and Freeman were also praised by Vincent Canby of The New York Times , who observed, "The two actors manage to be highly theatrical without breaking out of

224-464: A heartwarming journey with a pair of outstanding actors." On Metacritic , which assigns a rating out of 100 based on reviews from mainstream critics, the film has a score of 81 based on 17 reviews. CinemaScore similarly reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune declared Driving Miss Daisy one of the best films of 1989. Roger Ebert of

256-416: A hit squad composed of corrupt policemen, including Jack Axel and Max Quentero, break in and proceed to murder Mason's wife and shoot him. Mason's young son, Sonny, escapes out of a window. The corrupt policemen frame Mason, making it look like a murder-suicide. At the same time, assassins kill Mason's partner. Later at the hospital, Mason is first pronounced dead, but is then discovered to be alive, although in

288-538: A lower joke rate than sitcoms . In the very influential Greek theatre , plays were considered comedies or tragedies. This concept even influenced Roman theatre and theatre of the Hellenistic period . Theatre of that era is thought to have long-lasting influence, even in modern narrative works. Even today, works are often classified into two broad buckets, dramas and comedies. For instance, many awards that recognize achievements in film and television today, such as

320-507: A real estate agent, Mason recovers the hidden videotape from his old house. O'Malley and Sonny arrive at the train station, but are confronted by some of the Senator's men. Sonny flees with the tape, but O'Malley is killed. When Mason arrives, he sees Sonny running away from Quentero and Nolan. Mason catches up with the men and subdues Nolan by breaking his leg and throwing him in a trash bin. He then beats up Quentero and recognizes him as one of

352-412: A retirement home. In 1973, Hoke, now 85 and rapidly losing his eyesight, retires. Boolie, now 65, drives Hoke to the retirement home to visit Miss Daisy, now 97. The two catch up, and Hoke gently feeds her Thanksgiving pie. The final scene is an image of the black Cadillac driving on a road. Driving Miss Daisy was given a limited release on December 15, 1989, earning $ 73,745 in three theaters. The film

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384-428: A second chance, they would award the 1990 Oscar for Best Picture to My Left Foot instead. The film's score was composed by Hans Zimmer , who won a BMI Film Music Award and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television for his work. The score was performed entirely by Zimmer, done electronically using samplers and synthesizers, and did not feature

416-456: A single live instrument. There is a scene, however, in which the "Song to the Moon" from the opera Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák is heard on a radio as sung by slovak sopranist Gabriela Beňačková . Similarities have been noted between the main theme and the "plantation" folk song " Shortnin' Bread ". The soundtrack was issued on Varèse Sarabande . The film was also successful on home video. It

448-550: A twenty-five-year period. Driving Miss Daisy was a critical and commercial success upon its release and at the 62nd Academy Awards received nine nominations, and won four: Best Picture , Best Actress (for Tandy), Best Makeup , and Best Adapted Screenplay . As of 2024, it is the most recent PG-rated film to have won Best Picture. In 1948, Daisy Werthan, or Miss Daisy, a 72-year-old wealthy, Jewish , widowed, retired schoolteacher, lives alone in Atlanta, Georgia , except for

480-581: A worldwide total of $ 145,793,296. The film was released in the United Kingdom on February 23, 1990. Driving Miss Daisy was well received by critics, with particular praise for the screenplay and performances by Freeman, Tandy and Aykroyd. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 85% rating based on reviews from 104 critics, with an average score of 7.70/10. The website's critical consensus states: "While it's fueled in part by outdated stereotypes, Driving Miss Daisy takes audiences on

512-702: Is a movie or program that balances the elements of a drama and a comedy. Also known as a comedy drama, this hybrid genre often deals with real life situations, grounded characters, and believable situations. The ratio between the drama and comedy can vary, but most of the time there is an equal measure of both, with neither side dominating. Abreu also adds that dramedies often deal with relatable and serious topics such as divorce, illness, hardship, and heartache. Examples of comedy dramas in American film include: Examples of American television comedy dramas include: Hard to Kill In 1983, Mason Storm ( Steven Seagal ),

544-581: Is his employer. At first, Miss Daisy refuses to let anyone drive her, but Hoke's patience pays off, and she reluctantly accepts the first two trips; one to the Piggly Wiggly supermarket, the other to her synagogue . Then she tries to get Boolie to fire Hoke after discovering a can of salmon missing from her pantry. However, Hoke, unprompted, admits to eating the salmon, and offers a replacement. As Miss Daisy and Hoke spend time together, she comes to appreciate his many skills. She teaches him to read for

576-450: Is still in danger, but his muscles have atrophied to where he can barely move. He manages to get to an elevator, and when Andy sees her co-workers killed, she helps Mason escape. Needing time to recuperate, Andy takes Mason to a friend's house, where Mason uses his knowledge of acupuncture , moxibustion and other meditation techniques to recover his strength. While training, Mason hears a commercial for Senator Vernon Trent and recognizes

608-478: The Chicago Sun-Times called it "a film of great love and patience" and wrote, "It is an immensely subtle film, in which hardly any of the most important information is carried in the dialogue and in which body language, tone of voice or the look in an eye can be the most important thing in a scene. After so many movies in which shallow and violent people deny their humanity and ours, what a lesson to see

640-721: The Primetime Emmy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards segregate several award categories into these two classifications. The 20th century saw a rise in film and television works that could be described as comedy-dramas. The term is a translation from the French "comédie dramatique". The portmanteau "dramedy" came to be in the 1980s. In January 2022, Rafael Abreu, writing for the StudioBinder filmmaking blog, defined this genre as follows: A dramedy

672-408: The portmanteau dramedy , is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama . In films, serious dramatic themes (such as death, illness, etc.) are dealt with realism and subtlety, while preserving a humorous tenor. In television, modern scripted comedy dramas tend to have more humour integrated into the story than the comic relief common in drama series but usually contain

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704-791: The Academy Awards over Spike Lee 's Do the Right Thing was controversial. Lee later reflected on the controversial decision by saying that Driving Miss Daisy was "not being taught in film schools all across the world like Do the Right Thing is." Driving Miss Daisy received 9 Academy Award nominations and also achieved the following distinctions in Oscar history : The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists: In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter polled hundreds of Academy members, asking them to re-vote on past close run decisions. Academy members indicated that, given

736-516: The South. After her synagogue is bombed , Miss Daisy realizes that she is also a victim of prejudice. American society is undergoing radical changes, and Miss Daisy attends a dinner at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives a speech. Boolie declines when she invites him to the dinner, suggesting that Miss Daisy invite Hoke. She waits until the last moment, asking Hoke to be her guest during

768-466: The United States and Canada and $ 75 million worldwide. It holds a 33% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews; the average rating is 4.1/10. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly rated it a letter grade of D− and called Seagal as generic an actor as the film. In describing

800-441: The car ride to the event. She attends the dinner alone while Hoke, who is insulted by the manner of the invitation, listens to the speech on the car radio, outside. One morning in 1971, Hoke arrives at the house to find Miss Daisy agitated and showing signs of dementia : she believes that she is a young teacher again. Hoke calms her down. In that conversation, she calls Hoke her "best friend." Boolie arranges for Miss Daisy to enter

832-443: The film and knew that Mason was set up. Trent is arrested, and Mason is reunited with Andy and his son as the footage from the videotape is played on the news, showing that Trent making a deal with the underworld mob and coming out of the shadows. Hard to Kill debuted at number 1 at the U.S. box office with an opening weekend gross of $ 9.2 million, the biggest 3-day February opening at the time. It eventually grossed $ 48 million in

864-451: The first time using her teaching skills and resources. After Idella dies in the spring of 1963, rather than hire a new housekeeper, Miss Daisy decides to care for her own house and have Hoke do the cooking and the driving. Meanwhile, Hoke buys the cars in which he drives Miss Daisy, after they are traded in for newer models, and he negotiates a higher salary with Boolie. The film explores racism against African Americans and antisemitism in

896-405: The men who took part in the assault on Mason's home. Mason proceeds to snap Quentero's neck, killing him. After a brief reunion with his son, Mason goes after Senator Trent. Mason sneaks into the Senator's mansion and manages to eliminate his men one by one. Mason fights with Axel in the billiard room and avenges his wife by jamming a broken pool cue into Axel's neck, killing him. Next, Mason leaves

928-538: The realistic frame of the film." On the other hand, the film has been criticized for its handling of the issue of racism. Candice Russell of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel described Freeman's character as having a "toadying manner" which was "painful to see", and said that the film was ultimately "one scene after another of a pompous old lady issuing orders and a servant trying to comply by saying 'yassum.'" The film's nomination for Best Picture at

960-430: The voice from the pier. Mason contacts O'Malley, who supplies him with weapons and tells him that his son is still alive. O'Malley adopted Sonny and sent him to a private school so that he would be out of danger. He arranges to meet O'Malley and his now-teenage son at a train station later. After O'Malley leaves, Senator Trent's men find the house and attempt to kill Andy and Mason, but they both manage to escape. Posing as

992-537: Was given a wide release on January 26, 1990, earning $ 5,705,721 over its opening weekend in 895 theaters, becoming the number one film in the United States. It remained at number 1 the following week but was knocked off the top spot in its third weekend of wide release by Hard to Kill . It returned to number one the next weekend and remained there for a fourth week. The film ultimately grossed $ 106,593,296 in North America, and $ 39,200,000 in other territories, for

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1024-823: Was released on DVD in the United States on April 30, 1997, and the special edition was released on February 4, 2003. The movie was first released on Blu-ray disc in Germany, and was finally released on Blu-ray in the United States in a special edition digibook in January 2013 by Warner Bros. In the UK, Warner Home Video released Driving Miss Daisy on VHS in 1989. Driving Miss Daisy was then released on DVD in 2005 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment and then in 2008 by Pathé through 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment . Comedy drama Comedy drama , also known by

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