Green Book (2018) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

In the 1990s, not many moviegoers would expect either of the Farrelly Brothers, the duo behind Dumb and Dumber, would ever do a biopic drama. That scenario became a reality in 2018. 


PLOT


Peter Farrelly’s Green Book takes place in 1962 follows Frank 'Tony Lip' Vallelonga, an Italian bouncer who lives in the Bronx with his wife Dolores and their two sons. He gets hired to be a driver for African pianist, Doctor Donald Shirley, who handpicks him due to the strength of his references. Tony takes it due to the Copacabana being closed for renovations. The job is to drive him for his eight week concert tour, through the Midwest to the Deep South. Before the tour begins, he is given the titular guide for African American travelers that contain locations that would serve them in the Jim Crow South. At first, the two do not see eye to eye, as Don is disgusted of Tony's behavior, and Tony is easily annoyed of Doc's orders/requests. However it slowly changes, whenever Tony is appalled of the discrimination Doc goes through offstage and becomes impressed with what he could do as an artist. In Louisville, saves him from a bar fight when threatening to use a gun without even pulling it out. And he later bribes officers from arresting him, after caught having sex with another man at a pool. He does so knowing his career would be ruined for it, as no one accepted homosexuality at the time. Between that, Don helps him write letters to his wife Dolores. When passing through a sundown town in Mississippi, Tony gets arrested for punching an officer that insults him over his relation to Don. The pianist is able to get them both out of the situation by calling Attorney General Robert F Kennedy to bail them out. Upon driving to a motel does Don feel embarrassed on having to do that, thus leading to him arguing with Tony over race relations & meritocracy. This leads to him admitting when he’s not mistreated by whites for being black, he’s rejected by black communities for his mannerisms alone. They reconcile by the time they make it to the hotel. On their last show at Birmingham, Alabama, they draw the last straw. When Doc is not allowed to eat at the country club he is going to perform for, they leave and go to a predominantly black blues club. There, Don enjoys performing piano with a band and Tony shoots his gun outside when people try jacking their car.  After enjoying themselves there, they head back to the Bronx. They almost don’t make it when a blizzard gets in their way, but they luckily get aided by another cop who helps them with a flat tire. Tony almost doesn’t make it as he gets tired near the end of the drive, but Don returns the favor by driving him home for the remainder of it. Hesitant at first, Don joins Tony to have Christmas dinner with his family who all welcome him, especially Dolores who had figured he helped her husband with the letters and she thanks him for it. The film ends in an epilogue revealing both men remained close friends before passing away months apart in 2013.

THOUGHTS


Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what I wanted from this movie since was a story I never heard of, nor did I expect a comedic director to give a strong drama. While I neither predicted this to win the Best Picture Oscar in 2019, I think Farrelly is able to share a still interesting perspective to say the least about how it’s important to build bridges across differences because that is what makes human connection so special. If we keep going on with hate, we’re never gonna be happy and that’s the end of it. Apart from impressive costume design by Betsy Heimann, we had an impressive dynamic duo that spoke so much volumes of an era where being accepted of differences was a big challenge. Viggo Mortensen & Mahershala Ali were a pair that just clicked from the start as Tony & Shirley because they click off of being polar opposites that grow to respect their point of views and grow out of being simple minded. It does feel like a big challenge to like Tony because he is not easy to like with his unspoken prejudice in the first act, simply off of throwing away cups that were drank by black plumbers. From that alone, you know this journey is gonna be like a roller coaster where every turn will be effective. That is exactly the case when he gets paired to drive Shirley around. This movie definitely doesn't want to depict him as a white savior since he does get him out of trouble in every checkpoint, but the time he spends with him does help him understand he's just as human as him. The main reason Mortensen is captivating in his own way as Tony because he has a lot of pride in being a working man and from the moment he meets Don, he doesn't think he gets that. From their time together, he realizes that is not the case at all. Ali is spectacular in second Oscar winning performance because Shirley is a more reserved guy who has to cope with being an outcast everywhere he goes. It's already tough for him to survive the 60s as a black man, but it was only harder to keep secret being gay. Their argument in the rain really brings it full circle as it is not only a great acting lesson but also peels a big layer in how hard it can be in finding any kind of identity. Tony really understood Shirley the moment he shared the paradox he goes through, hence having his back in ditching the restaurant. I'm sure Tony will still be compensated for the rest of the tour since he was paid half upfront and it was Don's decision to rightfully cancel the way he does. In the end, what mattered most at that point was being able to express themselves which they got to do by the climax. Although both men define this movie, I got to give a shoutout to Dolores. Linda Cardellini really did a great job in showing her as the one to take a first step in growth. Even though she actually shared Tony’s prejudice by throwing the cups too, she truly respected Shirley reaching out to her and asking permission for her husband to work for him eight straight weeks. That and all the letters she got helped her see things in another perspective. If she didn’t, she would’ve not hugged him. And of course she knew it was Don that wrote them because she knew how simpleminded her husband was that he wouldn’t improve like that on his own. Nevertheless, it was nice to see everyone coexist after one lengthy business trip. In conclusion, Green Book may have not been what many were rooting for to win the Best Picture Oscar, but was an ideal winner at the time to show friendship can come in all shapes & sizes. If you're into compelling stories like this, I see it as a no brainer you'll enjoy this as well.