GREEN BOOK  4.0***

by saying this is the BEST movie I have seen this year !!!!

I love it when directors who are usually identified with one type of film break  out of that cycle do something radically different. Such is the case with writer/director Peter Farrelly who is  known for mostly doing gross out, or raunchy and immature comedies such as the Dumb and Dumber( very dumb movie) and There’s Something About Mary (which I liked a lot) doing a 180. This time around, with Green Book, Farrelly takes a true story and helps write the screenplay and directs. The film  has just as much humor, better humor, as the films he would normally do, but here he elevates his style by giving the film a timely message of friendship and acceptance.  

Green Book is based on a true story about a black concert pianist (played by Mahershala Ali) who tours the American Deep South in the early 1960's, and takes along a rough-and-tumble Italian bar bouncer as his driver/fixer (played by Viggo Mortensen). The driver (Viggo) begins the tour as a northern racist who takes the eight week assignment because he needs quick cash. The pianist (Ali) starts the tour as a lonely and pompous uppity concert pianist unable to fully navigate the white world where his music is highly valued, and equally uncomfortable in black-America. The couldn't be more different if they tried.  Through the film we see the two characters slowly find each other and themselves as they subtly bond, and we feel the connection as a real friendship blossoms. One of the things I liked best is the movie teaches tolerance as much by example without preaching at you.. It all unfolds through a myriad of natural moments between two great actors and a strong supporting cast. 

The title of the film  (“Green Book”) comes from a once essential tour book for African Americans that listed hotels and other businesses willing to serve black customers, in a shameful era when American blacks were legally equal to whites but discrimination in the South remained grossly overt.  

This is a wonderful film about putting prejudices aside and seeing goodness within your fellow man and learning to appreciate that. This road trip truly reshapes the two characters in marvelous ways. This is an absolutely an outstansing film that made me laugh more than any other film this year and at the same time warmed my heart  while shocking me by the deplorable racist attitudes and actions of the 60's.  It  shows how far we still need to move ahead as a society.

The performances by the two leads are I think the two best male performances I have seen this year and the characters are so wonderfully vibrant and full of emotions, personality and life all thanks to a meticulously researched screenplay based on a true story. A film of this type of quality does not come along too often, so I suggest you see it while you can and do not be surprised to see  Oscar nominations and even wins coming from it

. One of the best films of this year.