Chad’s Grade: B-
During the 62nd Academy Awards back in 1990, one of the more contentious Best Picture winners was announced when “Driving Miss Daisy” took home the top prize. The film was among a group of nominees that included “Field of Dreams,” “Dead Poets Society,” “My Left Foot,” and “Born on the Fourth of July.” It should be noted that Spike Lee’s masterpiece “Do the Right Thing” wasn’t even nominated, although Lee did get a best screenplay nomination. The Academy does what it does best and picks the safe winner. My choice would’ve been “Field of Dreams,” but I digress.
Nearly 30 years later, we have the Academy repeating itself for 2018’s Best Picture winner “Green Book.” Both “Green Book” and “Daisy” share striking similarities. Both films are essentially road trip movies that explore prejudice and race relations from a white male perspective. “Green Book” has been described as a reverse race-gender version of “Daisy,” although that’s an oversimplification. “Green Book” has a different tone and is markedly more cinematic. Also, the shadow of the Oscars So White campaign hangs over its controversial win.
Set in 1962, “Green Day” is based on the real-life friendship between Italian American Tony “Lip” Vallelonga and African American classic pianist Don Shirley. Tony (Viggo Mortensen) is short on cash when he loses his bouncer position at a nightclub closing for renovations. With a wife and two children to feed, he’s hired as a driver for Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) as he embarks on a concert tour of the deep south. The blue-collar Tony is not excited to be working for a snobbish and cultured black man but accepts due to the generous salary. Armed with the “Negro Motorist Green Book” (a safe guidebook for black travelers), the pair strike up an unlikely friendship as they encounter the intolerance and racial segregation of the 1960s.
The best thing I can say about “Green Book” is that it’s a genuinely good movie at times. Just not a great one. You know how the movie will end about 10 minutes in and doesn’t deviate from any well-worn formulas. Director and co-writer Peter Farrelly have crafted a crowd-pleasing film with real heart and emotion and nothing more.
Director Farrelly is one half of the Farrelly brother directing team responsible for the broad comedy smashes “Dumb & Dumber” & “There’s Something About Mary.” And watching Farrelly stretch out of his comfort zone and do a film with some actual dramatic weight is impressive. But it’s the movie’s comedic bits that really shine. There’s a great “odd couple” chemistry between a gruff Tony and the refined Don Shirley and watching those two personalities bounce off each other provides the film with some genuine laughs. Whether it’s Don’s constant “eyes on the road Tony” or Don helping Tony craft charming letters to his wife (a criminally underused Linda Cardellini), the comedy lands. At my screening, the scene where Tony shows Don the wonders of “Kentucky Fried Chicken” was the film’s biggest laugh.
The movie is helped immensely by rock-solid performances by Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, and Linda Cardellini. Mortensen, despite leaning very heavily into Italian stereotypes, received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. But the movie belongs to Ali, who won a much deserved and second consecutive Oscar for best-supporting actor. Ali is cool, intelligent, and confident in all his scenes and is the perfect foil for Tony. I’m still waiting for Linda Cardellini to land some big complex role that will show Hollywood what she’s capable of. But as Tony’s patient, world-weary wife Dolores, she exudes a natural warmth and helps anchor the more dramatic moments.
What drags down director Farrelly’s good intentions is the script, co-written by Farrelly, Brian Currie, and Tony’s real-life son Nick Vallelonga. This is a film written from a distinctly white male POV, and Ali has the daunting task of portraying the black experience. In several scenes, Tony’s driving position morphs into a personal bodyguard that comes off as the dreaded white savior trope. The most striking is when Shirley is caught with another man in showers of the YMCA, and Tony bribes the police to release him from custody. It’s a tense scene, but it’s never mentioned again. And Shirley’s alleged bisexuality is never broached or explored. It should be noted that Shirley’s family has denounced the film, calling it hurtful and a “symphony of lies.”
This is a frustrating movie to review. It does a great job of blending heartwarming drama with genuine laughs. But there are tone-deaf moments that keep the film from taking off and becoming a classic. There’s real dramatic meat in this material, but the film has nothing new to say about race relations, a theme that can resonate in this age of Black Lives Matter and divisive politics.
THE 2018 BEST PICTURE NOMINEES:
Green Book
Black Panther
Blackkklansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Roma
A Star is Born
Vice
This is a decent but uninspiring group of films. History was made with “Black Panther” becoming the first superhero film to receive a best picture nomination, a crowning achievement for Disney-Marvel. For me the standouts were “Roma” and “The Favourite” and either film was more deserving of the Best Picture Oscar. “Roma” was especially impressive for its stunning black and white cinematography, and director Alfonso Cuaron took home a well-deserved Best Directing Oscar.
DID IT DESERVE TO WIN?
No, absolutely not. This is where the Academy got it wrong and went with the non-controversial choice. The Academy was still smarting from the Oscars So White controversy, which started in 2016. In response, the Academy began in earnest to change its membership to recognize more diverse films. And “Green Book,” despite being from a white filmmaker, was diverse enough for Academy members to pat themselves on the back without rocking the boat.
Another emerging factor was the rise of streaming. Netflix and Amazon Prime were beginning to attract top filmmakers like Alfonso Cuaron, David Fincher, and Martin Scorsese. The brilliant “Roma” was the first Netflix movie to be nominated for best picture, and I think that doomed its chances. The Academy has been downright elitist toward streaming as many members don’t consider them actual films. This is slowly starting to change as Netflix has been racking up consistent major nominations in recent years. It’s only a matter of time when a streaming film will win the top prize.