dual personalities

The other night I saw a really good movie: Green Book (2018). Typically (since I liked it), this movie has not done well at the box office. I can’t imagine why not.

Set in 1962 and based on a true story, Green Book tells the story of the friendship that develops between nightclub bouncer Tony Lip Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) and the erudite African-American piano prodigy Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) he has been hired to chauffeur through the Deep South on a concert tour. The two rely on the “Negro Green Motorist Book” to guide them to the motels and restaurants that they can use on the trip.

This is a story about racism and how two people can change. They change because they get to know each other. It is a serious topic handled with a light touch. I guess that is why some critics don’t like it–does this story make the remedy for racism seem too easy? It is a “road” picture. (At times, Don and Tony reminded me of Neal and Del in Planes, Trains and Automobiles--the prissy guy and the gross guy who learn to appreciate each other.) But it is decidedly not a comedy, although the Golden Globe Awards put it in that category. Perhaps its being hard to categorize explains the failure of this movie to be the hit it deserves. Whatever category you put it in, I thought the personal journey of the two men was quite engaging and believable.

The acting is excellent. Viggo Mortensen is totally convincing as the overweight, tough Tony who loves to eat. (Forget handsome Aragorn of the flowing locks.) He is an actor that becomes the character and his focus is sharp.

[I was reminded of this focus a few weeks ago when I watched Appaloosa (2008) in which Viggo plays Everett Hitch with the same sense of immersion in the character. He is the apparent sidekick in the film who makes you pay attention to him and ultimately his character is, indeed, not the sidekick, but the linchpin of the story. Appaloosa, by the way, is a very good movie if you can stand the presence of the miscast Rene Zellweger.]

Mahershala Ali, who plays the dignified and accomplished Dr. Don Stanley, is also very good and never strays out of character. We feel his pain and understand his motives. We see him change and relax with Tony. We see him learn to trust him.

The direction by Peter Farrelly is impressive. Who knew the director of Dumb and Dumber had such depth? The fact that none of the actors stray out of character for even a moment is surely to his credit. The story flows effortlessly and there is a beginning, a middle, a climax, a denouement. A happy ending. How refreshing.

I heartily recommend this movie! If they gave men Oscars for getting fat and dying their hair for a part, like they do women, Viggo Mortensen would win hands down. However, he deserves an Oscar for his acting.