The Green Book movie review

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 2 hours 10 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: A

IN A NUTSHELL: Inspired by a true story, Green Book [Blu-ray] will open your eyes and heart. Before watching this movie, I had no idea such a guidebook existed. It was an actual booklet that identified which restaurants and motels were the ones where African-American travelers could be served from 1936 to 1966. Its subtitle was “The Negro Motorist.” That’s amazing that such a book was ever needed, right?

Far from a buddy road-trip flick, this powerful film won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2018. I’m hoping that Green Book [Blu-ray] gets nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture. It’s so much better than a lot of the garbage that hit the Big Screen this year. It’s a lovely movie that more people should be talking about, yet has somehow slipped under the radar for most movie-goers. It’s still in theaters. Go see it!

THEMES:

“Genius is not enough. It takes courage to change people’s hearts.” – Oleg (Dimiter D. Marinov)
Dishonesty
Racial prejudice and cultural stereotypes
“Dignity always prevails.” – Dr. Shirley
Hypocrisy
Respect, tolerance

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Some profanity, including 1 F-bomb
Racial slurs, name calling, the “N” word.
There is a LOT to talk to your children about in this movie: black vs. white, rich vs. poor, classy vs. trashy, history, dignity, self-control and so much more!
Lots of smoking and drinking.
Viggo Mortensen (Tony) wears boxers and a “wife beater” undershirt in many scenes.
You see two naked gay men sitting on a floor, but all of their “naughty bits” aren’t seen.
Tony throws garbage out of a car window. I absolutely hate it when people throw anything out of their cars. It disgusts me when I see cigarette butts and trash on a road divider when I’m sitting at a stop light too. What arrogance to think you have the right to trash the world the rest of us live in. Please talk to your children about that.
Invite your kids to watch some YouTube videos of some of the great musical artists that are mentioned in the movie: Chubby Checker, Sam Cook, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard.
Some Italian with subtitles.

THINGS I LIKED:

Everyone fell in love with Vigo Mortenson in the trilogy of The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring , including me. I haven’t seen him in many films in recent years, so it was great to see him. He knocked it out of the park in this film. I thought he was absolutely fantastic as Tony. Is an Oscar nomination in his future? I hope so. He certainly deserves it. He got to spend a six-hour dinner with Nick Vallelonga’s real family when he realized he needed to gain more weight and work on his bulging stomach for this movie. Mission accomplished. ha ha
Academy Award winner for the movie Moonlight, Mahershala Ali was perfect for the role of Dr. Shirley. Kris Bower composed the music in the film and also served as Mahershala Ali’s piano double. I didn’t even realize there was a piano double because the editing was done so well.
You get to see pictures of the real people this story is inspired by at the end of the movie. I love that they used real family members in the Vallelonga family dinner scenes. One of family members kept eating all of the food after the director yelled, “Cut!” ha ha
They tour through the “Deep South” and are faced with stereotypes and prejudices. I lived in Georgia for 15 years from 1987 to 2008 and was surprised to still see some of those prejudices. It’s time to stop seeing racial differences, but instead, celebrate our wonderful differences and focus on our similarities.
I laughed when Dr. Shirley showed his annoyance with bad grammar. I feel the same way.
I always appreciate clever and artistic transitions between scenes.
Satisfying character arc with all of the main characters. Awesome.
Some humor.
The movie was directed and written by Peter Farrelly, who also gave us Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something About Mary with his brother. Most people would call those movies pretty stupid comedies. This time, Peter goes it alone without his brother. The Green Book is elevated way beyond that kind of writing. Nice job Peter!
Music is such a big part of the story and the movie. Check out the Green Book (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Some viewers have been critical that the film glosses over some of the important things that were happening in the United States in the 1960’s. I disagree. It wasn’t the scope of the movie to address every element of the Civil Rights movement, but we certainly feel the heaviness of the racism of the time. The movie is focused on the character development, not every detail of history. If you want more history, you should definitely watch Selma. It’s a really great movie and the song at the end will knock your socks off.

FUNNY LINES:
*“It don’t look that fun to be that smart.” – Tony

“You’ won’t believe how beautiful nature is. It’s as beautiful as they say.” – Tony
“Kentucky Fried Chicken in Kentucky! When’s THAT gonna happen?” – Tony

INTERESTING LINES: