#TIFF18 Review: Green Book

By John Corrado

★★★★ (out of 4)

Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) is a working class Italian-American family man who works as a bouncer at a New York night club. Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) is a renowned classical pianist of Jamaican descent who is embarking on a tour throughout the Deep South of 1962, a time of segregation and pronounced racial violence in America. When Tony is hired as Dr. Shirley’s driver for the tour, the two men initially clash.

Dr. Shirley is a sophisticate with a regal air about him and a polished way of speaking who plays to sold out crowds of white society folk, while also facing shocking racism as a black man in a deeply segregated country, often at the same clubs where he is hired to play. Tony is a plain-talker who gets by on bullshit and isn’t opposed to using his fists to get out of a tight situation, working hard and navigating the streets his whole life. But as the tour goes on, and they realize the realities of each other’s worlds, the two men come to form an understanding and develop a deep bond between them.

Directed by Peter Farrelly, one half of the sibling duo that made Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary, Green Book is an absolutely delightful road movie that uses humour to shine a light on the ugliness of racism and classism in America. Based on a true story, the film is buoyed along by an excellent script, which is filled with any number of small pleasures as our two protagonists banter back and forth, while also delivering many serious moments that movingly depict the realities of the time. This is the sort of film that will make you laugh before making you tear up, and it’s a balance that Farrelly navigates brilliantly.

Finally, Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali deliver a pair of great performances as the co-leads, bringing nuance and depth to each of their roles, and playing off each other in ways that are deeply satisfying to watch. This is a crowd pleaser through and through, evidenced by the fact that it got one of the best audience reactions I’ve seen at the festival since Silver Linings Playbook, with people clapping at points throughout the film.