Although I had read good things about it, specifically about Ali's performance, I wasn't planning on seeing Green Book, in part because it's a Peter Farrelly movie, in part because of all the controversies. Then my cinema decided to have a free preview screening —last time they did this it was 2015 and the movie was Paul Feig's Spy— and I decided to go.
Set in 1962, the film follows an uneducated racist Italian-American, Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), who, after losing his job as a bouncer, becomes the driver of a well educated African-American classical pianist, Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), and takes him on a concert tour into the deep South.
The plot is very simple and lefts a lot to be desired as it keeps moving forward in a very unrealistic way —the events portrayed aren't unrealistic, but their resolutions are— and it ends up being predictable and quite annoying, to be honest. Also, it has the potential to do much as it's essentially the story of a black man who struggles to gain the respect of his fellow African-Americans while trying to resist the racism that kept him from being as successful as a white man with his talent would have been, but unfortunately, it is always dropped so that Green Book can be a feel-good movie about race relations and friendship.
Overall though, the film still manages to be compelling and engaging and the characters deserve some of the credits for it. While both Tony Lip and Don Shirley embody some of the stereotypes of Italian-American and African-American respectively, at the same time they also shatter them. They feel like caricatures at times, specifically Tony Lip, and yet they are believable and watching these two different men interact and change each other was quite fascinating.
As for the performances, Viggo Mortensen yet again gives a strong performance as he's very convincing as the stereotyped family-devoted Italian-American. It's Mahershala Ali that absolutely steals the show though as he manages to convey the emotions, the sadness, and especially the loneliness of his character through his eyes only.
The most astonishing thing about Green Book is that Peter Farrelly directed, co-wrote and co-produced it. He is certainly not famous for making serious movies —it's the opposite, actually, his films are the definition of dumb— so it came as a shock to me that he was able to handle the serious subjects in a serious and yet humorous manner. The balance between drama and comedy isn't perfect, but overall, it works and makes the film quite delightful to watch.
Overall though, the film still manages to be compelling and engaging and the characters deserve some of the credits for it. While both Tony Lip and Don Shirley embody some of the stereotypes of Italian-American and African-American respectively, at the same time they also shatter them. They feel like caricatures at times, specifically Tony Lip, and yet they are believable and watching these two different men interact and change each other was quite fascinating.
As for the performances, Viggo Mortensen yet again gives a strong performance as he's very convincing as the stereotyped family-devoted Italian-American. It's Mahershala Ali that absolutely steals the show though as he manages to convey the emotions, the sadness, and especially the loneliness of his character through his eyes only.
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| Universal Pictures |
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