Green Book

— A nicely done film based on a story from 1962. Tony “Lip” Vallelonga needs a job for a couple of months when he’s out of work while his employer is closed for renovation. Tony’s a loud, opinionated, hair-triggered, fist-fighting, prejudiced Italian American, who ends up taking an unlikely but well-paying job as the driver for Dr. Don Shirley, a black pianist embarking on a concert tour in the Jim Crow south. The film follows the evolution of their relationship during an era when a published “Green Book” was necessary to guide travelling blacks so they could find lodging in areas where they weren’t welcome at many hotels and motels. It becomes a glimpse into that era of U.S. history, at the strength of friendship and family, at the value of respect, belonging and acceptance, and of making a difference in your own life and in the lives of others. This is a film for mass consumption so the images aren’t as gritty as you’d see in other films and the story line is less jarring, but that doesn’t negate its value. Viggo Mortensen is incredible as the almost-caricatured Tony and the pace is near perfect. It’s hard not to be reminded of “Driving Miss Daisy” since it’s kind of a working-class version in reverse, and in many ways its similarity also reminds us that friendship can and should be blind to color.

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[2018. 130 min. Directed by Peter Farrelly. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Manhershala Ali, and Linda Cardellini.]
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/green-book-2018