#141. Chauffeurs

When it comes to driving somewhere, we rarely want to be the driver. Riding along as the passenger gives us a chance to watch the world around us, whipping by as the miles tick away on our journey. Of course, we still need someone to drive us somewhere if we are to be the passenger. This is why people are paid to drive. While the fancier drivers tend to be called chauffeurs, since they drive private automobiles or limousines, in the end, isn’t anyone who is paid to transport people in a car technically a chauffeur? How many times has your mother complained at having to chauffeur you around while you were growing up? Therefore, moms, dads, bus drivers, and taxi drivers could also be considered chauffeurs (even if the first two are free). This week’s two films examine what it’s like to drive around paying customers as a chauffeur.

Driving Miss Daisy
Year: 1989
Rating: PG
Length: 99 minutes / 1.65 hours

Even though many could be considered chauffeurs, the true definition of a chauffeur is leagues above the regularly paid (or unpaid) drivers. The trick is that, for someone to hire a chauffeur, there’s a lot of money involved. As such, the cars are nicer, and the tips are larger. To some who occasionally get the privilege to ride in a limousine, the experience is definitely one of luxury. But what if you’re the one who always gets to ride in a limousine because you’re the one driving it? Furthermore, even though a chauffeur would be considered a servant (or even down to a “slave” level), sometimes there’s so much time spent driving a single individual around that a deep relationship may result. Needless to say, if you want to bump elbows with the wealthy, there’s no better way to do so than to be a chauffeur.

Hoke Coleburn (Morgan Freeman) already had an excellent reputation as a chauffeur when he was hired to drive Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy) around town at the request of her son, Boolie (Dan Aykroyd). Before driving Miss Daisy, Hoke was a chauffeur for a local judge, so he could definitely be trusted to keep his passenger safe. Of course, the real trick of his talent comes from the fact that he was illiterate. Relying on instructions and directions from his passenger as well as having a knowledge of the area meant Hoke never really needed to know how to read. However, Daisy would have nothing of that, so once she warmed up to him, she taught him how to read while he showed her that she’s not as helpless as she may seem. Through their relationship, both grow together into their respective old ages.

Collateral
Year: 2004
Rating: R
Length: 120 minutes / 2 hours

As was mentioned in a post earlier last year, one of the most dangerous professions involved with driving is that of a taxi driver. It’s easy to be a chauffeur for someone you interact with daily, but what if you have to chauffeur around a bunch of people you know nothing about? While we can try to give most people the benefit of the doubt, many are dangerous, and a taxi driver is their chauffeur. Even more to the point, what if a dangerous fare ends up taking the taxi driver as a hostage? This essentially ends up being a situation where the taxi driver is forced into being a criminal’s chauffeur. The driver of a getaway vehicle is still liable to be charged with a crime, since they are aiding and abetting a criminal, so what if they have no choice in the matter? With their life on the line, will they do what they can to stop the criminal, or will they drive them to the next crime scene?

Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) is a cab driver in Los Angeles, where he has picked up a variety of fares. After dropping off Annie Farrell (Jada Pinkett Smith), a U.S. Justice Department prosecutor, Max picks up a man by the name of Vincent (Tom Cruise). To keep Max driving him to different parts of the city, Vincent offers him $600 to drive and sit quietly at each stop. Unfortunately, after a man is killed by Vincent and falls onto Max’s taxi, it soon becomes obvious to him that Vincent is a hitman. Now Max is coerced into assisting Vincent in completing the rest of the hits for the night, not only as a getaway driver but at times as an accomplice. After each hit, the plot thickens until Max figures out that the last target of this killer is Annie Farrell. Having just driven her earlier that night, Max is not going to stand for this and starts planning out how he can stop Vincent.

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 charming chauffeurs

#140. Morgan Freeman

Chances are, now that you’ve started reading this post, you’re probably imagining Morgan Freeman narrating it. While this soothing, informative voice has narrated many movies before, it wasn’t until 2005’s March of the Penguins that this actor really became known for his narrating ability. This doesn’t mean that Morgan Freeman can’t act; in fact, it’s quite to the contrary. Having performed for over 50 years, Morgan Freeman has been in some of the most celebrated films of the late 20^th Century. From Best Pictures like Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Unforgiven (1992) to cult classics like The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and Se7en (1995), Morgan Freeman has been in a lot of films (even including some less-successful ones). This week’s two movies examine two different sides of Morgan Freeman’s career.

Now You See Me
Year: 2013
Rating: PG-13
Length: 115 minutes / 1.92 hours

For the last 30 years, Morgan Freeman has been in a movie almost every year (with the exceptions being 1986 and 1999). Recently, he has been in multiple films, sometimes appearing in up to five different movies a year. Considering that most actors decrease their amount of work as they get older, Morgan Freeman has aged so gracefully and fits so many roles flawlessly that it would almost be stupid to stop acting at this point. And even though he is doing more narration work on this end of his career, he still manages to get key roles in film franchises. Most notably, he portrayed Lucius Fox, Batman’s equipment and tech support guru, in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight saga. Another great fit for him was playing Nelson Mandela in Invictus (2009), an obvious choice considering his close resemblance to the South African leader.

In Now You See Me (2013), Freeman plays Thaddeus Bradley, the magician’s worst nightmare. Bradley has made a fortune selling DVDs where he cracks open the illusions of other magicians and shows the world the secrets behind the tricks. As a result, he is pulled in as a consultant to help the FBI and Interpol catch four magicians who call themselves the “Four Horsemen.” They have managed to rob a bank in Paris during their show in Las Vegas. While the Horsemen are always one step ahead of the investigators, Bradley helps narrow the gap. By this time, there’s speculation that a “fifth horseman” might be helping the group from the inside. And yet, in retaliation for an event which helped define Bradley’s career as a spoiler of magic, he ends up being framed as the “fifth horseman” for assisting the Horsemen in their capers.

Driving Miss Daisy
Year: 1989
Rating: PG
Length: 99 minutes / 1.65 hours

Another Best Picture that Morgan Freeman performed in was 1989’s Driving Miss Daisy. What’s perhaps more strange is that, while he has won many other awards, he’s only won one Oscar for acting. That’s not to say he hasn’t been nominated. In fact, he’s been nominated four times over the length of his career. While you’d think he would win for Best Actor in Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption, or Invictus, his only Oscar was for Best Supporting Actor in Million Dollar Baby. And yet, because he is African American, Morgan Freeman has excelled in many roles dealing with racism. From the Civil War piece, Glory (1989), to the South African rugby championship in Invictus, Freeman has managed to handle these roles with grace and a sense of solemn power. Driving Miss Daisy is no exception to this.

During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, change is still slow in the south, but even more so for the older generations who have been set in their racist ways for a long time. When it becomes evident that Daisy Werthan (Jessica Tandy) cannot drive, her son Boolie (Dan Aykroyd) hires Hoke Colburn (Morgan Freeman) as a chauffeur for her. Even though Daisy is resistant to the idea, eventually she learns more about Hoke and begins to accept him. As a retired teacher, Daisy puts it upon herself to teach Hoke to read once she finds he’s illiterate. Unfortunately, racism doesn’t just affect the blacks, it also affects the Jews, which Daisy learns when her synagogue is bombed. Eventually, Daisy has deteriorated to the point where she needs to be put in a retirement home. Even so, when Hoke retires many years later, she still remembers their time together fondly.

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 fantastic Freeman roles

Bacon #: 1 (Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story / Kevin Bacon)