Review: Green Book a feelgood movie of the highest calibre
The premise of Green Book on paper doesn’t seem like much. On screen, however, it comes alive very vividly and oh-so memorably, capturing a rare spark between two great actors while maintaining a fire in its belly.
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All that Green Book really delivers is two blokes with short fuses on a long road trip.
A white guy sits upfront, doing all the driving, and making all the small talk.
A black guy sits in the back, doing his best not to listen or respond, and inevitably failing miserably at both.
On paper, it doesn’t seem like much. On screen, however, this possibly static premise comes alive very vividly and oh-so memorably.
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This is the true story of the venerated African-American jazz pianist Don Shirley (a majestic display from Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali) and his brawny Italian-American driver Tony Vallelonga (a lovably lug-headed Viggo Mortensen).
Together, the pair undertake a deceptively dangerous concert tour of the Deep South in 1962, a region that seems like another planet to both men for wildly different, yet closely bonding reasons.
At the time, Shirley was one of the foremost musicians of his generation, a serious innovator not above giving crowds what they wanted if the price was right.
However, while Shirley’s renown was global in reach, as a man of colour, he remained decidedly unwelcome in pockets of his own country.
His decision to undertake a concert tour of venues in the south was more symbolic than strategic. In some towns, it was like an act of defiance that brought the worst out of any redneck who noticed his presence.
Hence Shirley’s decision to bring the rough, tough, ready and very talkative New Yorker Tony Vallelonga into his very private world, primarily as hired muscle should the going get rough.
Vallelonga was a typical NYC wiseguy of the era, the type of gent who had been around nightclubs and their mobster owners long enough to know when to flick the switch from teddy-bear to thug.
Cooped up in their shared hire car between shows, Shirley and Vallelonga were very much the epitome of oil and water. The movie plays upon their obvious differences lightly, and highlights their surprising similarities subtly.
Green Book is a genuinely irresistible feelgood film of the highest calibre, capturing a rare spark between two great actors while maintaining a fire in its belly when it comes to matters of acceptance, tolerance and understanding.
GREEN BOOK (M)
Rating: Four stars (4 out of 5)
Director: Peter Farrelly (Hall Pass)
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini.
Smooth ride on a rough road
Originally published as Review: Green Book a feelgood movie of the highest calibre
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