Do you know what a Green Book is? As unbelievable as it may seem, it’s a “touristic guide” with all the places the colored people could lodge and have their meals in the Beautiful American South, during the segregation. In states like Arkansas, Kentucky or Georgia, it’s as the Civil War never took place. This wonderful movie is just about a road trip, a tour actually, in those Southern states, with all the concerts booked in beautiful estates or exclusive theaters.
Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in Green Book
[source for all pictures: imdb.com]
Green Book – Plot
Tony The Lip is a bouncer at Copacabana, a New York nightclub. He is strong and cunning, a real asset for the joint. “Copa” has to be refurbished and Tony is out of the job for two months. He has to pay rent, he let himself challenged in a hot dog eating competition, but it’s not enough for home. His surname is Vallelonga, he’s Italian, he knows the ropes but he’s not “made”. By his sense of right and wrong, he’d rather pawn his watch to make ends meet before Christmas than do a job for some mobster for easy money. His devotion to his family shows a great heart under his toughness.
Dr. Don Shirley is a renowned musician who even performed twice for the President. He has to make a music tour in the South and he needs a driver with special qualities. First of them is that he has to be caucasian since Dr. Shirley is black. In 1962, in a place like Alabama, Jesus Christ wouldn’t stand a chance if he is colored. So, the next quality is that the driver can handle a “difficult” situation, of whom there are many to expect in such a trip.
The Bronx Italian-Americans were racist by nature, they despised the blacks, maybe because they were consumers instead of handlers. Anyway, Tony is no different. When two black repairmen come to Lip’s house and his wife serves them lemonade, Lip throws out the glasses they used.
Don Shirley Trio – Green Book
Dr. Shirley of “Don Shirley’s Trio” searched for that special driver and Tony Lip’s name came over and over. He sends word and Tony came to the interview. Don’s apartment is placed on top of Carnegie Hall. They talk business. They talk about facts and figures. Lip is not a butler, he is much more else. That night, Shirley calls Tony’s house and wanted to be sure that the wife – of whom Tony is head over heels in love – agrees of his husband to be absent for two months. Also, Tony’s requests were all accepted, $125 per week plus expenses.
Viggo Mortensen and Linda Cardellini in Green Book
In the morning, Dr. Shirley’s handler (Record Exec) gives Tony an envelope with half of his pay. He gets the rest only if at the tour’s end no concert is missed. Among Tony’s jobs were that he has to ensure before a concert that the piano is a Steinway, and every night, a bottle of Cutty Sark is waiting in Don’s room.
The movie is extraordinarily catchy from the very beginning. It meets viewer’s expectations at every corner and even if occasionally corny it’s still one of best comfort-movies of 2018.
Disputing places in Green Book 2018
It is obvious that this adventure created a bond between the two men and it made both of them wiser. Lip became aware of the depths of racism in the Deep South: the crappy motels where Don has to stay, the old Southern “gentleman” who welcomes the Don Shirley Trio into his home to play for his distinguished guests — but does not allow Don to use the bathroom.
Eventually, they became friends for life. You´ll watch for yourself. It´s a comedy built on factual drama.
‘Wow, Kentucky! The chicken must be fresher here…’
Cast & Crew
Viggo Mortensen is Tony ‘Lip’ Vallelonga. Mahershala Ali is Dr. Don Shirley, a talented musician. Linda Cardellini is Dolores, Nick’s wife.
Directed by Peter Farrelly (Dumb and Dumber, Movie 43). Written by Tony The Lip’s real-life son, Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, and Peter Farrelly. Green Book is nominated for 5 Oscars.
The Official Trailer
Trivia, Facts & Critics
It is obvious that Viggo Mortensen shines again with method acting. Nothing is impossible but not many of you imagined the fine structured Tolkien warrior king playing Joe Pesci’s triple-chinned cousin speaking with his olive oily vowels. He finally deserves his Oscar this year, but it will be tough against Dick Cheney and Freddie Mercury. A chance may be that it’s not you who cast the vote, it’s his peers.
The real Tony Lip became an actor after his career as a bouncer. He played in Sopranos, Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco. His son, Nick Vallelonga, besides contributing to the Green Book screenplay, is also an actor, director, and producer. He also played in the movie as a mob boss who offers Tony some work. The other writer, Brian Currie, appears as well as a Maryland State Trooper. Tony Lip Villalonga died in 2013.
Tony Lip Vallelonga, and Nick Vallelonga, father and son
Green Book gets its name from “The Negro Motorist Green Book,” a mid-20th-century guidebook with a state-by-state listing of gas stations, restaurants, and motels that would serve black travelers.
Mahershala Ali’s great piano performances were achieved with the help of a body double. With this act, he is aspiring for his second Oscar.
Green Book is the kind of old-fashioned filmmaking big studios just don’t offer anymore. It’s glossy and zippy, gliding along the surface of deeply emotional, complex issues while dipping down into them just enough to give us a taste of some actual substance.
– Christy Lemire
Green Book has such a positive note that it really shines in this troubled world. It also shines among the other Best Pictures nominees. Needless to say that it’s the most enjoyable movie I’ve watched regarding this year’s Oscars.
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