Green Book was an interesting theatrical experience, as it was, for all intents and purposes, one of the most enjoyable theater experiences I’ve had this year. I tend to have a soft spot for cheesy feel-good movies, especially around the holiday season. However, that same over-sentimentality is why problems with its underlying narrative begin to arise.
For a film entitled Green Book, the actual ‘green books’ that the film derives its name from (the Jim Crow-era guidebooks for African American travelers) seem, oddly enough, like a bit of an afterthought. They’re only briefly mentioned a handful of times and don’t have a significant impact on the narrative itself. The film seems reluctant to fulfill the role of being a sharp commentary on the racial prejudice of the time and instead relies on director Peter Farrelly’s trademark comedic sensibilities. Fortunately enough, the comedy isn’t nearly as low-brow as his previous work (Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary) and is handled with sprinkles of charm and class. Unfortunately, the movie’s dramatic weight is diminished, especially when its racial motifs are handled with such a lack of substance or nuance. Instead of being a biting, potentially refreshing social commentary, it’s overly sugary, a bit dumbed down, and Oscar-baity. It seems like a completely missed opportunity, especially considering films from this year like Sorry to Bother You, Blackkklansman, Blindspotting, and hell, even Marvel’s Black Panther, none of which held back in making bold, interesting narrative choices in regards to racially charged overtones.
Green Book, on the other hand, plays it completely safe, opting to be as crowd-pleasing and enjoyable as this story can be (and reaping as much awards attention as possible, go figure). While there’s nothing inherently wrong with a crowd-pleasing film of this caliber, I can’t help but wonder why the film that feels so formulaic in comparison to its contemporaries seems to be one of the strongest contenders for Best Picture at the 2019 Oscars.
That being said, this film definitely isn’t without merit and is indisputably entertaining in its own right. What it may lack as a drama, it more than makes up for as a comedy, and much of its comedy stems from the infectious chemistry between the two leads: Viggo Mortensen as Tony Vallelonga (dubbed Tony Lip), and Mahershala Ali as Dr. Don Shirley. Based on a true story and a “true friendship,” Lip is an Italian-American bouncer-turned-driver for Shirley, an African-American jazz pianist about to embark on a concert tour in the deep South in 1962. The two are almost complete opposites in terms of personality and mannerisms: Shirley is intellectual, well-spoken, and proper, while Lip is anything but. It seems like pure formula, almost akin to an inverse Driving Miss Daisy (another awards show darling back in 1989) but Mortensen and Ali’s performances drive the film and are undeniably the best aspects of it; both are unequivocally excellent in their respective roles and breathe life into the film at every moment, despite the conventional tropes, cliches, and inconsistencies that hold the narrative back from being something truly special and groundbreaking.
Lip undergoes a sort of arc in the film, which, though earnest and obviously well-intended, is presented as uneven at best. At the beginning of the film, he’s shown throwing away water glasses used by two African American maintenance workers that came into his house, but from that point on, Lip is never shown as being nearly as despicably racist, unless convenient to the plot to create tension between him and Shirley. Nevertheless, the duo is an absolute blast to watch on screen and makes the perpetual cheesiness substantially more tolerable. Ali brings a level of elegance and class, yet also of immense vulnerability, to his performance, making Dr. Don Shirley an incredibly likable figure. You might even find yourself choking up a little near the film’s climax and resolution, where the movie’s themes, though shallow and sanitary considering its subject matter, are tied up neatly and in a perfectly satisfactory manner. Green Book is an exemplary feel-good movie, and though it’s over-sentimentality causing it to shy away from any real racial commentary is a missed opportunity, it’s sure to be a hit at both the box office this holiday season, as well as the Oscars next year.
Score: 3.5/5