December 1, 2018 4 min to read

Green Book

Want to feel genuinely good about yourself, humanity, and the world? Go watch Green Book, a brilliant feel-good movie that refrains from being cringey, preachy or one-noted.

by Zach Saul

Green Book follows the story of Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and his trio’s tour through the deep south accompanied by notorious “fixer” Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen). Tony is a stereotypical working class Italian-American bouncer at the Copacabana who is left without work while the club regroups following a brawl. Tony gets a mysterious call about a Doctor who lives above Carnegie Hall needing a driver for a few weeks, and encounters Don Shirley sitting on a golden throne surrounded by rare stones and ivory sculptures. Tony reluctantly accepts the job on the condition that he doesn’t have to serve as Mr. Shirley’s assistant and will only be called upon to drive and handle problems. As soon as the trip starts Tony quickly realizes he’s tied up in more than just a concert tour and that Dr. Shirley and his trio have come very intentionally to the most racist states in the country to perform.

What makes Green Book different from other feel good movies about race is that director Peter Farrelly plays with stereotypes cleverly, and goes beyond condemning them as a racist mechanism. Over and over again Tony is placed in situations where the audience expects his to abandon his duties to Dr. Shirley because of his machismo self-image. But time and time again he surprises us - most poignantly when he bails Dr. Shirley out of jail for public indecency and tells his boss “It’s a complicated world out there”. Dr. Shirley also manages to surprise us when he’s put into situations where we’re led to believe he might dismiss his driver for being ignorant or racist. When Tony shoves fried chicken in the face of Dr Shirley begging him to try it, he reluctantly agrees and indulges Tony in throwing the bones out the window in a subtle act of rebellion. There’s a beauty to the give and take between Ali and Mortensen’s relationship, and Farley’s movie stays interesting for the entire 2 hours 10 minutes because the power shifts back and forth between them as they help each other with each new hurdle the tour throws their way.

Tony and Don have wildly different moral/ethical codes that govern their behaviors but grow to respect the other’s code despite disagreeing with it. In one scene Don gets offended by Tony stealing a gemstone at a rest stop and forces his to return it only to take it for himself after the tour ends. Dr Shirley lives his life in large part by following the rules and “maintain his dignity” through thick and thin, showing loyalty to no one. Tony on the other hand is more willing to operate outside the rules - but comprises his set of moral rules based on a loyalty to other people, and honors his word above all else.

While I found the racial and cultural themes to be interesting and powerful, that wasn’t what I thought was most interesting about Green Book. I took the most pleasure out of witnessing the dichotomy of an intensely arristoratic man sharing a car with someone who needs help writing letters to his wife. Ali is relentlessly condescending to Tony - to the point I was often surprised Mr. Lip exhibited as much patience as he did. In those moments, Tony often responds with stubborn comebacks—but it’s clear he’s internalizing Dr. Shirley’s advice. At their best, movies should reflect what society is thinking about at a moment in time - and perhaps on both sides of today’s political divide the aristocrats can learn from Dr Shirley’s mistakes and the working class folks from Tony’s.

The Good: Director Peter Farrelly shatters your expectation of what you think should happen at every turn, awkward glance, and screaming match. The resulting experience was the most fun I’ve had at the movies in 2018. Never once did I feel like Green Book was preaching to me or that it was wagging the finger at any of its characters— a testament to Ali, Mortensen, and Cardellini’s performances.

The Bad: Before sitting down to watch Green Book, I more or less knew the plot and where it would take me. To the film’s credit - Green Book was undoubtedly the best possible version of a movie with a set destination. It would have been interesting to see a little introduction to Dr. Shirley and/or his past to explain his character. Granted, that would have spoiled the surprise and satisfaction of seeing Viggo Mortensen’s face staring up at Mahershala Ali dressed like an African King on a gold throne.