Directed by: Peter Farrelly
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini
I could listen to these two guys talk all day. Green Book is about two men from very different backgrounds who forge a friendship in the racially tense 1960s. The film is a road movie, but transcends the clichés associated with the genre with two distinct, unforgettable performances and warmth, truth, and humor. You think just by the plot description (based on a true story) that you know Green Book will check off certain boxes and arrive at a predictable conclusion. You would be only sort of right, and you would also be moved by this poignant and often funny journey.
We first meet Tony Lip (Mortensen), a paunchy bouncer at the Copacabana in New York circa 1962. Local mafioso frequent the place to see singers like Bobby Rydell grace the stage, and Tony Lip isn't above roughing up patrons who get out of line, even if they are connected. After the Copa is closed briefly, Tony Lip bounces around the Bronx finding odd jobs and taking bets on whether he can eat more hot dogs in one sitting than the local diner record holder. He adores his wife Delores (Cardellini) and his kids, while also preferring not to work for the local mob bosses who want to hire him as muscle. Tony Lip is an affable guy, who hasn't quite reached enlightenment as far as his racial attitudes. Those more or less mesh with the times. His reaction to witnessing black repairmen drink from his glasses tells you all you need to know.
Soon, concert pianist Dr. Don Shirley (Ali) ("a doctor of piano playing" as Tony puts it) inquires around about needing a driver for his fall concert tour of the South, and Tony's name comes up. Doc lives in a posh apartment above Carnegie Hall. It is full of antiquities and Caribbean-inspired decorations, including a throne which Doc sits in when interviewing Tony for the job. The two men's backgrounds and approach to the world could not be more evident. Tony smokes, stuffs his face, talks endlessly, and murders the English language, while Doc is proper, mannered, impeccably dressed, and educated. But, in a twist you wouldn't expect, Doc is not condescending of Tony, and Tony is not threatened by Doc's mannerisms. They are a study in contrasting personalities who find each can learn from the other and find common ground.
It comes as no surprise that Doc's façade hides immense shyness, while Tony is surprisingly understanding and enlightened when he learns more about Doc. What makes Green Book such a treasure, is how both men remain themselves, while allowing themselves to grow and see things from different perspectives. We know Doc will encounter racial prejudice during the trip. The "green book" is a book published by AAA noting establishments which would welcome blacks. This is how integrated racism and discrimination was back then. Even though we still have a long way to go towards racial equality, at least such books are no longer published.
Mortensen and Ali are a delight to watch at every turn in Oscar-worthy performances. They never have to reach for laughs or sentimentality. We feel an instant connection with them. We are touched when we see their lifelong friendship evolve before our very eyes. It is refreshing to see that they aren't at each other's throats in the beginning and warm up to becoming friends, which would be typical of a lesser film. Each understands the other, accepts their differences, and work from there. The changes each man goes through are subtly drawn through humor and observance of their natures. Doc is Tony's guy, and Tony never wavers in his duty to get Doc through his tour and protect him from some of the more cruel people they meet.
Green Book, directed by Peter Farrelly (yes, that one who directed Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary, and even The Three Stooges with his brother Bobby) never steps wrong. It knows who Tony is and knows who Doc is, and we can wholly believe how and why they became friends and remained so until they died within four months of each other in 2013. There is a crucial point in the film in which Tony makes a discovery about Doc he may or may not have suspected earlier, but he comforts Doc by saying, "it's a complicated world". This is exactly how Tony would, and should say about this situation, and it is a pleasure to see this movie stay so true to Tony's, and Doc's, voice.
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