Green Book (2018)

Who could've ever greenlit "Green Book"? A (mostly) true story of two men of completely different backgrounds overcoming their own prejudices and the stifling racism of the Deep South of the early 1960s. We'll hire a Danish guy to play an Italian guy, and a guy best known for playing a political fixer and a dope dealer (in "House of Cards" and "Moonlight", respectively) to play a Jamaican-American musical genius. And we'll have one of the Farrelly brothers direct it. How could that possibly become a great movie? Well, it does- primarily through the great performances of Viggo Jorgensen and Mahershala Ali, and the nuanced directing of Peter Farrelly. It confronts the racism prevalent at the time without becoming preachy, and shows its main characters growing through contact with each other, without a complete reversal of their characters (which would've seemed phony). Oh, and the movie looks great, too- the period cars, sets, and costumes really take you back to that time period. A film festival favorite, "Green Book" will hopefully be appreciated by Oscar voters, too.

Fmovies: I saw this at TIFF and loved it from beginning to end. It's a moving true story about two people who forge an unlikely friendship. Thought-provoking but never preachy.

A very inspiring film. I walked out of the cinema feeling like there is good even in the unlikeliest of people. The dialogue was well written, and the main characters were equally as loveable. Viggo Mortensens acting was only overshadowed by that of Mahershala Ali, whose portrayal of an educated african-american man living in 1960's america was both heartwrenching and absolutely hilarious. While Mortensen stood for most of the comic relief, I found myself laughing the hardest from Ali's deadpan deliveries through the character of Dr. Shirley.

The story of a black man who struggles to gain the respect of his fellow african-americans, while simultaneously resisting and pulling at the roots of the racism and oppression which keeps him from being as successful as the americans and europeans who should be his equals by all measures musical and educational.

While the story and plot left little to be desired. I felt one or two jokes were shoe-horned in and would have been better discarded. The visual tone was fitting to the film, but the camerawork was nothing out of the ordinary. Not all films call for out-of-this-world originality in all marks however. And this film allows the audience to focus on what is really important.

Green Book fmovies. Outstanding true story film showing that color doesn't define us, but how we act ourselves and towards others, does.

Great performances from the entire cast, especially Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali who were perfectly cast and convincing in their roles. It was also great to see comedian Sebastian Maniscalco in this film as well.

Writer, director and producer Peter Farrelly nailed every aspect of this biography.

The score, cinematography, sets and visuals were all on point.

I'm not a fan of slow paced long films, but this was was close to an exception. I feel if the pace was picked up a bit and/or the 130 min run-time edited down to around 110 mins, this would have been a perfect 10 from me.

Excellent drama and comedy perfectly positioned throughout the film.

A well deserved 8/10 from me.

... just that it's so inoffensive, safe, and cliche that I feel like I've seen it a million times before. Mortensen and Ali are terrific actors, and I am thankful for them. Without their charisma (and Viggo's willingness to shove insane amounts of food down his throat), I fear Green Book would be dead on arrival.

Mostly, I think this is a movie that's desperately afraid of 'offending' anyone. For instance: if there's a scene with racist cops, there will also be a scene with a good cop down the road, just to make clear that the movie is not stating or suggesting that 'all cops are/were racist'. It's also funny that the good-cop scene happens in the snow, to let us know the characters are back in a blue state, where supposedly life wasn't so bad for a black man after all! This is one of the many simplistic moves that indicate to me that the filmmakers were willing to sacrifice the complexities of their themes for a feel-good entertainment.

The script wants both characters to 'learn' from each other and eventually change and grow, but to make this happen, it turns them into unrealistic caricatures. It's a bit frightening how Shirley is portrayed as a complete ignorant of black culture, but it had to be this way so Tony can be the one to 'introduce' him to it. Tony's transformation comes simply from witnessing racism first hand, as if he never experienced such a thing in his life before - maybe another consequence of this being a blue state-red state movie??

So besides the performances, that speak for themselves, I think it's a very uninspired effort. At one point the characters leave the car for no reason other than to have a dramatic confrontation in the rain, as if rainy night equals 'dramatic weight'. I saw it in a packed movie theater and people seemed to enjoy it. You can't blame them. The movie has a 'now everything's fine' conclusion that can leave audiences in a good state of mind - but it also shows how simplistic it really is.

This picture should be up for BEST PICTURE. It has everything: great acting, solid script-writing (something that Hollywood really needs), and lots of humor. I wish that Hollywood would make more pictures like this.