Directed by:
Peter FarrellyCinematography:
Sean PorterComposer:
Kris BowersCast:
Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dimiter D. Marinov, Mike Hatton, P.J. Byrne, Joe Cortese, Don Stark, Anthony Mangano (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) is a world-class African-American pianist, who is about to embark on a concert tour in the Deep South in 1962. In need of a driver and protection, Shirley recruits Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), a tough-talking bouncer from an Italian-American neighbourhood in the Bronx. Despite their differences, the two men soon develop an unexpected bond while confronting racism and danger in an era of segregation. (Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
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Reviews (16)
If American Beauty offered a sophisticated, often subtle and graceful critique of the American middle class, Green Book, in a similarly bittersweet vein, presents the issues of racism in 1960s America, unassumingly, without relying on pathos, witty and with just enough insight. Viggo Mortensen dominates with his De Niro accent and redneck diction, Ali got the Oscar because he's black. For a film that is mostly about the interaction of two characters, it is brisk, fresh and entertaining.
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Miss Daisy's driver upside down. A nice, sadly funny and non-conflicting humanly warm film on a serious topic. Just saying nothing that other similarly nice, sadly funny and non-conflicting humanly warm images wouldn't have said already with an equally nice, sadly funny and non-conflicting humanly warm taste. It's not an average movie just because of the working dynamics of the central duo; even if one has to get used to Mortensen in “a true Italian almost parody mode".
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The incredibly simple, flat story, is saved from my sheer hatred (which I felt for the idiotic racial jumble The Help) by humor, and by the fact that it’s so stupid and stupider that there is no way it will offend you. The themes of tolerance and self-acceptance do not make much sense. The film, like a forged midcult, avoids everything that is even slightly problematic (or looks at it helplessly as a doctor looking at working nurses), and it always finds a way to get away from it. If I wanted to play at being Žižek, I would see an extraordinary tragedy about how two people help to create a fake version of themselves (supposedly better, yet totally a lie for the person watching). Farrelly's directing is about as progressive as the filter his cameraman uses, but one thing that he has is almost ingenious - the cast. The two idiots are so nice and relaxed that it's hard not to enjoy it for a while. They can convince most people that this film is not as hollow as it seems. Burn after reading.
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"Driving Mr. Mahershala"? Too bad that Viggo had to fight Rami Malek for the Oscar, as the jury couldn’t give it to anyone else but Rami. Here, Viggo put on a remarkable performance, just like in Eastern Promises. Mahershala is also great. The movie itself, however, is a dime-a-dozen Hollywood template, with a good heart and gorgeous narrative but without a hint of filmmaking inventiveness.
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If someone had told me at the beginning of the year that the best film would be a road movie drama with Oscar ambitions, I would have laughed them off, but hats off to them, this is a cinematic gem next to which Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption look like B-movies. Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali deliver superhuman performances and their chemistry is flawless. The film pulls up a lot with tasteful and apt humour, the mafia undertones and the strong racism of the time. There are tense scenes and, most importantly, emotions, where I found myself crying for maybe two whole hours at a stretch and that never happened in my life. After watching it, I immediately got the feeling that I had to see the film again with everyone close to me and that doesn't happen often. The event of the year and for me possibly the best drama ever. 100%.
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