Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actress 1989

The Contenders:

Isabelle Adjani: Camille Claudel
Jessica Tandy: Driving Miss Daisy (winner)
Michelle Pfeiffer: The Fabulous Baker Boys
Jessica Lange: Music Box
Pauline Collins: Shirley Valentine

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Adapted Screenplay 1989

The Contenders:

Born on the Fourth of July
Driving Miss Daisy (winner)
Enemies, a Love Story
Field of Dreams
My Left Foot

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Picture 1989

The Contenders:

Born on the Fourth of July
Dead Poets Society
Driving Miss Daisy (winner)
Field of Dreams
My Left Foot

Oscar Got It Wrong!: Best Actor 1989

The Contenders:

Tom Cruise: Born on the Fourth of July
Robin Williams: Dead Poets Society
Morgan Freeman: Driving Miss Daisy
Kenneth Branagh: Henry V
Daniel Day-Lewis: My Left Foot (winner)

Driving Miss Daisy

Film: Driving Miss Daisy
Format: DVD from NetFlix on laptop.

So NetFlix finally came through with getting me a copy of Driving Miss Daisy, the final Best Picture winner I hadn’t yet seen or reviewed. I was happy to finally have it in my possession. On the other hand, it would be a lie to suggest that I was genuinely looking forward to watching it. There are Best Pictures and there are Best Pictures, and I knew from the trailer that this wasn’t going to be Driving Miss Daisy at Dangerous Speeds.

We open with the titular Miss Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy) losing control of her car and miraculously managing to get away without injury. Based on her declining skills, her son Boolie (Dan Aykroyd) decides that she needs someone to drive her. The person he chooses is Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman). Miss Daisy is none too pleased about having a chauffeur and equally upset with the choice being Hoke; despite her frequent protestations that she isn’t prejudiced, she certainly holds some views that are not far from in keeping with the 1940s Georgia society she lives in.