Review 494: Green Book

Green Book is an excellently well made and poignant biographical, comedy drama film with a heartfelt message and two terrific lead performances.

In 1962, Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) is an Italian-America bouncer who is searching for new employment after the nightclub he works at is closed for renovations. He's invited to an interview with "Doc" Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a black pianist searching for a driver for his eight week concert tour through the Mid-West and Deep South.

The story has a great message about helping those who aren't like yourself and who aren't as fortune or as lucky as you are.
This films depiction of race is just profound as it shows just how intolerant people where of people of colour. As their tour goes on, Frank and Don come across many obstacles such as discrimination against Don and how that discrimination prevents them from having certain benefits on their roadtrip.

Primarily, Green Book is a film about contrast: Tony may not be the most well educated person, but he’s surrounded by family. Don, on the other hand, has a wisdom that exceeds his years, is a very talented pianist and outwardly looks as though he’s in a position where he demands great respect but has to endure prejudice from the people of the South.

Co-writer/director Peter Farrelly's direction is sensitive, the cinematography is gorgeous and captures the beauty of Southern America in 1962, the production design (recreating 1962 America) is fantastic, the costumes are colourful, the score by Kris Bowers is beautiful, the music that Shirley plays throughout the film is magnificent  the make up is rich and excellently detailed and the ending has a wonderful sense

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali are superb in this film. They have extremely palpable chemistry and work superbly off of one another.
They're these two people who are polar opposites of each other as they're separated by both class and race yet they travel together and learn about each other.
The friendship that develops between these two people as well as the mutual respect they develop for one another is the emotional core of this film

At the beginning of the film, Tony has it all, he's a bouncer at a prestigious nightclub, he has a family and all of that's changed once the nightclub is closed for renovations.
Seeking new employment, he decides to take a gamble and become the driver to Don Shirley and from then on goes on a wonderfully uplifting emotional journey where he learns the values of other people, particularly those of less fortune than him.
Tony really admires Don because of his talents on stage as well as the seemingly infinite wisdom he provides him on there journey. That wisdom rubs off on Tony as the film progresses and Tony becomes a more respectable and thoughtful person as a result, particularly through Don teaching him how to write letters to his family back at home.
But as the film goes on and he learns about all the hardships that Don has to go through just so he can make a living, that's when he begins to develop a newfound appreciation for DOn and empathy for what he has to endure.

Mahershala Ali shows once again that he's unquestionably one of the finest actors of recent years in the role of "Doc" Don Shirley. A man of considerable talent and wisdom who outwardly commands a great deal of authority and demands great respect. He also has to deal with his own set of problems, being ostracised during a time when coloured people weren’t as fortunate or treated fairly

Linda Cardellini and Sebastian Maniscalco round out the films small cast with noteworthy performances playing Tony’s wife and brother.

Green Book is a  4.5/5.

The Anonymous Critic.