Movie Review: Green Book

Green Book is the 2019 Oscar winning movie. I'll give a review about the movie and why it got the Oscar.

Dr. Don Shirley: Do you foresee any issues in working for a black man?
Tony Lip: You, in the Deep South, there's going to be problems.

Green Book is a Biographical movie set in 1962, a road drama where the main plot lies the two main characters riding throughout multiple spots. Dr. Don Shirley ("Mahershala Ali") is one of the main character. The other main character is a new driver & bouncer Tony "Lip" Vallelonga ("Viggo Mortensen") hired by Don Shirley. It seems like a typical road drama, but it's not. A touch of comedy is added by the racist nature of its time, in relation to the present time period.

Dr. Don Shirley: So if I'm not *black* enough and if I'm not *white* enough, then tell me, Tony, what am I?

The title Green Book implies their travel. It includes all the spots that Black people are allowed in. Basically Dr. Don Shirley wants to avoid sneaking into "White only" spots, even when Tony Lip offers him. Dr. Don Shirley acts exactly as a king would. He plays for White people all the time. In the end when he's asked not to go to a whites only zone to eat, Tony Lip said he's not going to play. In order to avoid violence, which he hates, he said he'll play but Tony took him out to a blacks only place. Dr. Don played piano there and he played it really well.

Tony: "These are your people...Your people made this stuff / love this stuff" - 1 eg:
Don: "You have a very narrow assessment of me"

Green Book is as I mentioned a comedy drama movie that relies on the relationship between the two main characters. This is where the movie becomes a road comedy. The conversations between the two characters are very interesting. For example, Tony makes big statements about eating Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky, and says they are the best. He has a very big appetite, and I'm assuming all of this is made up.

Apart from the comic conversations, they also include environmental friendly and racism tackling conversations. At one point, Tony absent-mindedly says "your people" when talking to Dr. Don. Dr. Don replies that just because every other black person loves this doesn't mean he would automatically love it. Same for every other black person who makes this, doesn't mean he would automatically love it.

Tony Lip: I dunno. Personally I think if you stuck to the classic stuff it would've been a big mistake.
Dr. Don Shirley: A mistake? Performing the music I trained my entire life to play?
Tony Lip: Trained? What are you, a seal? People love what you do! Anyone can sound like Beethoven or Joe Pan or them other guys you said. But your music, what you do? Only you can do that!
Dr. Don Shirley: Thank you, Tony. But not everyone can play Chopin. Not like I can.

Green Book is also a musical but as Dr. Don is a Jazz musician, and also plays a lot of music in a Concert tour. He hires Tony to get him from one spot to the next, with no trouble in a spot written in the Green Book (not White's Only). But it's more of a comedy drama than a musical.

Green Book introduces a lot of quotes, both funny and thought provocative. It tackles racism in a proper way. It's a good candidate for an Oscar - well it did get it. Mahershala Ali got best actor and the movie got best screenplay.

Only thing left to analyze is historical accuracy. According to remaining relatives of Shirley, the movie is not accurate. According to them, Tony is not a true friend of Dr. Don. Apparently, Mahershala Ali and apologized for not checking into it, and said that they did the best they could with their material while Peter Farrelly apologized to the unknown relatives and said that they only invited the ones they knew to a private screening. If the historical accuracy is inaccurate, then the movie's strength as a biographical movie is lower than before.

That's it for now, SkateLane Booting Out