Green Book review

GREEN BOOK:

VIGGO MORTENSEN AND MAHERSHALA ALI ARE PERFECTLY MATCHED IN THIS SURPRISINGLY ENTERTAINING RIDE!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND DREAMWORKS PICTURES

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in Green Book

            Director, Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, There’s Something About Mary) partners Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings trilogy, A History of Violence, Captain Fantastic) up with Mahershala Ali (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay: Parts 1 and 2, Moonlight, Hidden Figures) for a road trip through the 1960s Deep South in the new comedy-drama, Green Book. The film is based on the true story about the friendship between African-American classical pianist, Don Shirley and white Italian-American bouncer who served as his driver and security guard, Tony Vallelonga.

            This could have easily crashed and burn given that Farrelly is usually known for low-brow comedies co-directed by his brother, Bobby. While films like Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, and There’s Something About Mary were well-received and commercially successful upon release, they’ve had several misfires in recent years.

            A movie that’s based on a true story and deals with themes of prejudice and discrimination that’s also meant to be funny is being directed by one of the guys who directed an unfunny Bill Murray with an animated city living inside of him. Sounds like it’s destined to fail right? Well, no need to worry as Peter Farrelly takes a more mature approach with this film and delivers a surprisingly fun and charming journey through bumpy subject matter with two perfectly matched leads behind the wheel and in the back seat.

            Set in the 1960s, the film follows an Italian-American bouncer from a neighborhood in the Bronx named Tony Vallelonga, or Tony Lip (Mortensen) who has been hired by African-American world-class pianist, Don Shirley (Ali) to drive him on a concert tour from Manhattan to the Deep South. However, during their journey these two unlikely friends must rely on the Green Book to guide them to the few establishments that were then “safe” for African-American citizens. With encounters from racist police officers, drunken rednecks, and white business owners “Following traditions”, Tony and Don are forced to set aside differences to survive and buckle up for the journey of a lifetime.

            The film also stars Linda Cardellini (Scooby-Doo, Freaks and Geeks, Avengers: Age of Ultron) as Dolores Vallelonga, Iqbal Theba (Seinfeld, Glee, Arrested Development) as Amit, and Sebastian Maniscalco (Comedy Central Presents, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee) as Johnny Venere.

            Overall, Green Book is a smooth ride that balances drama and comedy quite well and the chemistry between Mortensen and Ali is something of legends. You got a foul-mouthed, angry, white man from New York driving the car with a calm and wise African-American man in the back, all sorts of hilarity ensue as well as a powerful friendship.

            I’m not sure how historically accurate this movie is and I’m positive certain aspects were toned down by Hollywood for a wider audience. Shockingly, its lighter tone actually works, don’t get me wrong, there are some intense moments, but this isn’t Straight Outta Compton or BlacKkKlansman where they need to rise up and sabotage the system, but rather have two mismatched characters on a wild adventure in a dark era and see how their friendship progresses over time, that’s where the focus should be.

            The performances and relationships between the characters are where Green Book shines, but the plot isn’t exactly perfect. It’s not at all badly written or a lazy narrative, but at times it is a little predictable and relies on a lot of buddy road trip movie clichés, thankfully they don’t ruin the movie and it’s mostly just a nitpick on my part.

            I doubt Green Book will make as big a splash as something like Widows or Creed II, but for something that could have been dead on arrival given the Farrelly Brothers later efforts, this was a pleasant surprise. It’s a good balance between comedy and drama with mature subject matter and two bizarrely likable leads in the car, it’s worth the ride.