Director: Peter Farrelly
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini
Screenplay: Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly
130 mins. Rated PG-13 for thematic content, language including racial epithets, smoking, some violence and suggestive material.
Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary, TV’s Loudermilk) kind of came out of nowhere with Green Book. The director, known for working with his brother on low-brow comedies (some of which are quite good), really showed up to bat on his latest film, a solo venture about two men in the 1960s who couldn’t be more different on the surface. It’s quite something.
Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Captain Fantastic) is a New York bouncer without a job after his latest club shuts down. He ends up with a job he never expected, driving Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, TV’s House of Cards) on a tour of the Deep South for eight weeks. Given the racial tensions of the Deep South, this proves to be a difficult job that brings these two men closer.
Green Book is one of the most interesting and enjoyable tales of friendship put to film in recent memory. It all boils down to the relationship formed between our two central characters. Tony is a smarmy low-brow guy who cares deeply for his wife, played by Linda Cardellini (Brokeback Mountain, A Simple Favor), and only seeks to do right by her. When he takes the job with Shirley, he is able to look introspectively at himself, see his flaws, and seek to better himself. The whole film, he is looking at Shirley through racially-tinted sunglasses, seeing only what his limited, and incorrect, perception of the culture is.
Mahershala’s portrayal of Dr. Shirley is a proud man, one who sees his placement in the broken American machine, and he seeks protection on his tour of the South. What he finds is the ability to find joy in moments and appreciation for who Tony is. He also has secrets that he wishes to keep and sees those secrets as faults. He is a multi-layered character and Ali is worthy of the performance.
Outside of their relationship, Green Book is pretty straightforward. Farrelly has no bells and whistles and just lets the camera focus on the two leads, and that’s a good call. It doesn’t really delve too deeply into race of the 1960s, and I will leave that open as to whether or not it was the right call, but it doesn’t injure the film’s central focus.
Green Book is a fascinating tale of friendship set against the backdrop of a difficult time in America. It’s led to two amazing performers who consistently left me smiling with their interactions. It’s a joyful film and a thought-provoking one that left me hopeful for the future.
4.5/5
-Kyle A. Goethe
For my review of Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s Dumb and Dumber, click here.
For my review of Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s Fever Pitch, click here.
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