Green Book has joined my provisional list of the top ten movies
of 2018, possibly cracking the top five.
It’s charming, well-acted, beautifully directed and photographed, and
meaningful.
And before I get too far into
the discussion, let me clarify something which may, if not addressed at the outset,
put you off from reading further. What seems to have gotten most of the
critical attention, or at least the headlines in the mainstream press, is the
thematic thrust of this film, particularly its depiction of the insidious
racism common in the American South of the early 1960s – which, as many have
noted, also implicates our continuing American problems with race prejudice
today. Hearing this, you might get the impression that Green Book is a somber or
sanctimonious picture and steer away in favor of something that might seem lighter
or more pleasant. Well, let me set you straight:
First of all, the movie is highly
entertaining and loads of fun to watch. Based on a true story about a musician’s
tour through the deep South taken in 1962 by the virtuoso jazz pianist Don
Shirley (Oscar winner Mahershala Ali) and his driver-bodyguard Tony “Lip”
Vallelonga (two-time Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen), Green Book is a bio-pic
that’s also a dual-genre road-trip buddy-movie about two seeming opposites – an
effete, wealthy, highly educated, extraordinarily accomplished,
African-American musician and a rather macho, unpolished, salt-of-the-earth Italian-American
nightclub bouncer, whom Shirley has hired as his driver. And like the best
buddy movies, this one is really funny. I’m
not the only one who thinks so. When I saw the film a couple weeks ago in a
large theater with a packed house, the audience roared with laughter –
frequently. I’m not going out on a limb by saying that minute for minute Green
Book is more comedy than drama much of the time.
This should probably not come
as a surprise, given that the movie’s director is Peter Farrelly, who also helped
write the screenplay. Farrelly is best known as a writer-director, along with
his brother Bobby, of such classics of broad comedy as Dumb and Dumber (1994) and its sequels; There’s Something About Mary (1998); Shallow Hal (2001), and such like. What’s surprising is his
association with this more sophisticated, more polished and more meaningful
project. As it turns out, he definitely knows what he’s doing.
Certainly, one of the main
underlying themes of this film is racism. The title refers to a touring guide
for Blacks travelling in the South in those Jim Crow days, formally titled The Negro Motorist Green Book, which was
published more or less annually for thirty years, beginning in 1936. As many businesses
in the South (and elsewhere too) refused to serve “coloreds”, the Green Book
was a necessity to those traveling while black - listing hotels, tourist homes,
gas stations, restaurants, taverns, barber shops, and other establishments that
would accommodate African-Americans on the road throughout the U.S. Early in the movie, Don Shirley gives a copy
of the Green Book to Tony Lip, and explains its purpose. As we come to see, it was a necessity.
But Green Book’s examination
of prejudice is not limited to race issues. It’s deeper than that. Bias and
stereotyping based on another person’s education, class and/or tribe also are perceptively
explored, sometimes humorously, sometimes not.
For example, one could hardly
dream up two characters more different than Tony Lip and Dr. Don Shirley (as he
liked to be called). Shirley was trained
as a classical pianist and had the talent to be a star, but soon found that
America was not ready for a black Van Cliburn, thus turned to jazz. In addition to his musical genius, he earned doctorates
in psychology, music and liturgical arts; he spoke eight languages; he was a
skilled visual artist. He prided himself on his refinement and disdained the vulgar
and the common (at least as portrayed in the film, which, from my brief
research, appears to have gotten this right). He was also gay.
By contrast, Tony Vallelonga
came up on the streets. When he met Don Shirley in 1962, Tony was about as proletarian
as it got in mid-century America: a high school education (if that), working as
a security guy at the Copa Cabana in New York City, hanging out with his
Italian-American family members and buddies (most of which similarly situated),
and married with a couple of kids. He got his nickname, Tony Lip, as a
youngster, because he talked a lot and, as he puts it, was a “good bullshitter.”
Tony loved pasta, fried chicken and junk food.
Shirley preferred white tablecloth restaurants, preferably French, or
room service.
Ultimately, as Viggo Mortenson suggested during a Q&A
about Green Book, the broader message of the movie is that people can
get along, regardless of background, ethnicity, religion, race or nationality,
if we only take the time to talk to one another, to get to know one another as
individuals, rather than falling back on stereotypes and the pervasive mythologies
of fear that encourage demonization of “others”. This moral is delivered gently
and organically within the story, without preachiness, albeit with a light touch
of feel-good, Capra-esque kitsch – you know: the kind of thing that makes a
movie audience want to applaud at the end. And this works; because the script
is good, Farrelly’s direction is deft, and the acting, by the two leads
especially, is wonderful.
Watching Mahershala Ali in this picture, one forgets that he
was Juan in Moonlight (2016), Remy in House of Cards or any of his other
roles. He’s Dr. Don Shirley, period –
totally believable. His character seems aloof at first – haughty, proud, so
refined as to be condescending – not to mention rather weird; but as the movie
progresses, and his relationship with Tony grows, we begin to care for him
while becoming more and more sympathetic to his ultimately tragic situation. And somehow, amazingly, Ali makes us believe
he can seriously tinkle the ivories like a pro. He can’t (I checked), but he practiced
for months to look the part and learned to play enough that through the magic
of the movies, he is quite convincing.
Ultimately, though, it’s Viggo Mortensen’s remarkable
performance that steals the show and carries the movie. At first, it’s hard to
even recognize him. To play the rather stocky Tony Lip, Mortensen put on
something like forty-five pounds, which altered his normally svelte physique
considerably, and just as dramatically transformed his facial appearance. Notwithstanding
a Danish – Scandinavian heritage and a childhood spent first in Argentina then for
high school and university in small-town upstate New York, Mortensen somehow transformed
himself into a quite credible Italian-American tough guy from the Bronx. It’s
not just his size or shape; everything about him – his manner of speech, accent,
gestures, the way he carries himself - makes him seem like a guy out of, say, Goodfellas (1990).This is not to suggest
that Lip was a gangster or a bad guy, far from it. But he can and did comfortably
hang with those guys. At the same time, and notwithstanding his lack of higher
education or high aspiration, Tony ain’t stupid; in fact, over the course of Green
Book, he demonstrates a surprising degree both of street smarts and
worldly wisdom. And who knew that Mortensen could be so funny? Although the
character is played “straight”, when Lip is meant to be comic, Mortensen’s timing,
body language, intonation and expression are just perfect, frequently
hilariously so.
I’ll be shocked if Mortensen is not rewarded with a bunch of
best actor nominations; nor would I be at all surprised or unhappy if he wins a
few of those awards.
Also worthy of mention is Linda Cardellini, who plays Tony’s
lovely, clever wife Dolores – who puts up with a lot and seems to understand
her man better than he understands himself. In fact, all of the supporting ensemble
is good.
Putting it all together, I believe – and most critics seem
to agree - that Green Book is a terrific movie – fun, interesting, beautifully
acted and directed – and as I’ve said, one of the very best of 2018.
2 hours 10 minutes. MPAA
rating: PG13
Grade: A
In wide release.
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