Genre: Film
Grade: A-
Notable People: Viggo Mortenson, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Directed by: Peter Farelly
Title: The Green Book
Review: My Cousin Sherry, who grew up in the Bronx with me, ecstatically recommended this film…and it’s a great call. I loved this movie. I laughed a lot, I cried a lot. Goombah tough guy bouncer at the legendary Copacabana (in its heyday) take a job driving a controlled, effete Black master piano player on a tour through the south in 1962. The plot setting in the Bronx at start of move is dead on- costumes, music , sets….and a host of great Italian character actors. The scene in the deep south are brutal and deeply disturbing (not all that long ago)..and a good thing for everyone to see again in these times we live in (maybe we should build a wall around Mississippi?). Some might see the movie as clichéd or over sentimental…a classic two men of far different worlds come together on a road trip story….BUT…Mortensen and Ali have unbelievable chemistry and are pure brilliance in these roles. Both go way against type (Ali is unrecognizable from his current play as “Purple Haze” on HBO’s True Detective (you should be watching that one) -and Mortenson is a chameleon like actor. I simply loved this film.