8 Terrible Films That Somehow Won The Best Picture Oscar

7. Driving Miss Daisy

Year: 1989 Fellow Nominees: Born on the Fourth of July, Dead Poets Society, My Left Foot, Field of Dreams Somehow beating out a strong board of Best Picture nominees, Driving Miss Daisy is one of only four films to win Best Picture without the director, in this case Bruce Beresford, being nominated, an occurrence that's only happened twice since 1932 (Ben Affleck's Argo is the other instance since then). The director statuette went to firebrand Oliver Stone in 1989, and his Born of the Fourth of July really should've taken home the Best Picture prize as well. Instead, it went to this film, which is oft- cited as a key example of the Academy playing it safe rather than rewarding a truly outstanding motion picture. Nominated for nine Oscars, including a pair of Best Actor/Actress nods for stars Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy, the latter of whom won, Driving Miss Daisy won four Oscars in total, a baffling achievement when you consider how bland the film actually is (and when you consider how rapidly its status has descended over time).