The film tells the story of Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy), an elderly Jewish widow and her African-American chauffeur in the American South who have a relationship that grows and improves over the years.
Driving Miss Daisy spans a quarter-century in the intricate relationship of a Southern dowager and her chauffeur, and it is a movie that invites you to appreciate the passage of time in more than one way.
Bruce Beresford gives a solid lift to his uneven career with his careful and colorful directing of Alfred Uhry's screenplay, based on Mr. Uhry's prize-winning stage play.
This is a story about people, not politics. And perhaps because we can see the actors in closeup on the screen, that is even truer of the movie than the play.
Driving Miss Daisy makes the simple point that combating racism can sometimes mean confronting a part of ourselves that we'd rather pretend does not exist. For Miss Daisy, it's as simple as admitting that Hoke is not just her driver, but her best friend.
Freeman and Tandy have their own performer's pride, and that transfers to their characters. Tandy, in particular, is almost astringent in her denial of easy emotion.
[Tandy and Freeman] are so affecting they turn what could have been merely well-meant hokum into a touching tribute to compassion and human dignity.
Tulsa World
February 23, 2016
It's a story about interior lives and the gradual changes that love and respect can bring about. That's rare in today's movies, and it's something to be treasured.
The movie never resorts to sentimentality. It has a dry wit as well as genuine warmth. Best of all it is the perfect showcase for two deserving actors -- Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman.
