2018--Green Book, Peter Ferrelly

2018--Green Book, Peter Ferrelly

Nominated: BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Roma, A Star is Born, Vice

Should have won: A Star is Born

Be sure to see: Bird Box, The Darkest Minds, Death Wish,  Jumanji 2,  A Quiet Place

"Do you know where you are?"--Tony Vallelonga

"Does geography really matter?"--Don Shirley

The 1989 best picture winner featured an elderly white lady whose chauffer was a kindly black gentleman. They built a friendly relationship when things could have remained simply business and their time together wound up being pleasant. The movie was Driving Miss Daisy and the 2018 winner, Green Book, reversed these roles by having a white chauffeur drive a talented black musician from city to city to perform his shows. A few years ago the "Oscars so white" twitter uproar changed how movies will be nominated. Though I typically disagree with this concept and feel the best should be nominated no matter what that means, Green Book is an example of the process getting it right. 

It is 1962 and Bobby Rydell is performing in a club for which Tony "Lipp" Vallelonga bounces. After an altercation, the club closes and Tony needs to find a job. Since he has experience driving a garbage truck, it is suggested he drive Don Shirly--the talented musician previously mentioned--across the southeastern United States to perform his gigs. I wasn't sure if gig is the correct term here though because of Shirley's stature as a serious musician but my brother who is pretty knowledgeable on the subject says it is.  Don must be pretty highly respected. After all his "office" is at Carnegi Hall. 

The title comes from a book Don's record studio gives Tony. It is essentially a guide on how to safely travel through racist areas of the South. It is called The Negro Motorist Green Book. I wondered how accurate such a book would be. One person's experience might or might not improve by following the book's advice, but that is how various self-help books would read, so I suppose this Green Book would have similar benefits. After hitting Iowa, they travel to Louisville and get Kentucky Fried Chicken. Being a Kentuckian I, of course, enjoyed their conversation on the matters of fried chicken. The movie slides in some reversals of racial stereotypes throughout the movie. For example, the black guy doesn't like fried chicken and the white guy likes music from Aretha Franklin and Little Richard while the black guy is unfamiliar, etc. 

A part of the story that seemed sweet but not important early on but played a key part later is Tony's letters. He has a way with words, and not necessarily in a good way. He promised his wife he'd write her letters from the road. His writing isn't exactly the most romantic so Don feeds him some lines to woo his wife's heart. It was sort of like a penned version of Cyrano de Bergerac.  Occasionally, the movie popped back into the life of Tony's wife back home which I felt took away from the story I would rather have been following which is the "non-buddy, buddy road movie" so to speak. But one single line is spoken by Dolores at the end that wraps the love letter aspect of the story up nicely. It is one of my favorite moments. 

The further south they go, the more racial tension they face but mostly this comes from the public and not from the concerts where Don is highly respected. I wonder if people like Nat King Cole faced similar fates while touring the south. But it occurred to me there might be a difference between well-known stars and a classical pianist who locals wouldn't recognize.  But I like how some of Don's traits brushed off onto Tony and vice versa. I said "mostly" the tension comes from the public and not the venues. When one venue doesn't follow through with its hospitality, things pan out as they should, which leads us to maybe the best gig Don Shirly ever had at the local ethnic restaurant called The Orange Bird. The piano scene at The Orange Bird was a highlight and I almost expected someone to stop Tony and tell him Adventures in Babysitting style that he couldn't leave unless he sang first. 

The movie was enjoyable but not really best picture worthy; had it been released 10 years ago it probably wouldn't have even been nominated. And the ending was completely predictable.  But I enjoyed it anyway. Mahershala Ali was good but without question Viggo Mortensen carries this movie. He has come a long way since Texas Chain Saw Massacre part 3, don't you think? 

Note: Yes, the director is the same Peter Ferrelly responsible for There's Something about Mary and Dumb and Dumber. And despite his movie winning best picture, he was not nominated for best director. In Oscar's long history this has happened only five times. The other four are Wings, Grand Hotel, Driving Miss Daisy and Argo. By the way, if you remember from the Grand Hotel review, that is the only movie to win best picture and not even be nominated for a single other award. One nomination; one win; best picture. I think that's my favorite bit of Academy Award trivia.