Green Book
2018
****½
Director: Peter Farrelly
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dimiter D. Marinov, Mike Hatton, Von Lewis, Brian Stepanek
In the early 1960s, the short-tempered Italian American Tony Vallelonga takes a job as a driver and bodyguard for Dr. Don Shirley, a black classical pianist whose band is about to embark on a concert tour which takes them to Deep South. The two men are very different, but they have a lot to learn about themselves and about each other. This true story, which is based on interviews and letters, treads lightly on the racism of the period and its characters, but it delivers an utterly charming and laugh out loud funny, not to mention crowd pleasing portrayal of an unlikely friendship. At the center of it are two towering performances by Mortensen and Ali. Academy Award winner for best picture, original screenplay, and supporting actor (Mahershala Ali).
