Since the Hollywood Foreign Press announced their Golden Globes nominations, the awards season picture finally began to take on solid form. With the nominations, attention came for some deserving and some not so deserving films as well. As is the case most years, whether due to political reasons or lack of studio power, some of the year’s best work was either forgotten or simply overlooked once again. Fortunately, Green Book wasn’t one of the movies that went that route.
This was a movie that sort of onto the scene because the first trailer didn’t do much to move the needle. On the surface, it seemed like something of a role reversal of Driving Miss Daisy but that’s just a superficial comparison. This was a true story about an unlikely but endearing friendship between a bouncer from New York City, Tony Lip, and an African American classical pianist, Don Shirley, that was forged while touring the Southern United States in the early 1960s. Obviously, the cast was the primary selling point with Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali giving the project enough credibility to pique my interest but I wasn’t expecting something so touching and heartfelt. Once the origin of the story and it’s players became clear, the plot took on a whole new trajectory.
Seeing as how this was the story of an improbable friendship, it was of the utmost importance to make an authentic bond for the audience to connect with. Mortensen and Ali were exceptional together…something of an otherworldly kinship. Chemistry in an element that is missing in the majority of stories brought to the screen but that wasn’t the case here. Both of their characters are written with such magnificent attention to detail and emotional depth, it enriched the performances by both men and made it exceedingly easy to relate to them. There were plenty of characters to go around and the nuance and depth of the supporting roles were built into the script, helping to set the foundation for the story and making it very easy to cheer these guys along in the process. It was really a joy and a privilege to watch them on this journey together. Both of these actors could walk away with some hardware during awards season.
Nick Vallelonga wrote this story about his father, Tony Lip, along with Director Peter Farrelly (of The Farrelly Brothers) and Brian Hayes Currie who helped write the screenplay. Beyond the character writing, the dialogue was fantastic and had a remarkable fluidity which allowed the performers to have rich, authentic interactions…tackling everything from race relations in the deep south to personal bias to eating habits and romantic endeavors. This isn’t an unfamiliar story in many regards. Two people from opposite ends of the spectrum come together under less than preferable circumstances and, after some reluctance on both sides, eventually find out they have more in common than they thought. It’s been done before but not quite like this. Set against the backdrop of escalating racial tension, the potential for a more fruitful dialogue was there.
Farrelly is known for his use of humor and that was no different this time around. Typically, his work is more of the slapstick, gimmick-driven variety (Dumb and Dumber) but here he showed a much more refined and measured approach. The movie is plenty funny but it was nice to see him change gears a bit and combine his style with some grounded realism and cultural insight. He paced the film wonderfully and his editor, Patrick J. Don Vito, really made the two-hour-plus runtime fly by. It would be an egregious foul if he were left out of the discussion for Best Director.
Obviously, music played a large role here and, at first glance, it appeared as though Ali learned to play piano for the role but the degree of difficulty would seem to be beyond something a person could pick up on short notice. Several of the scenes appear to show some kind of visual effects doing the work but the first time we see him play, the camera doesn’t break from his hands. As it turns out, Composer Kris Bowers was actually the one playing the piano in many of those scenes. He painstakingly recreated Shirley’s music, note by note, for the film since there was no sheet music to work from. The compositions were as beautiful as they were complex. Laced with a certain kind of magic that’s brought forth only by the piano. For Ali’s part, he worked studiously with Bowers to perfect his posture, demeanor, and attitude on stage while playing the coveted Steinway.
In a film as good as this one, some of the subtleties are easy to overlook. Everything looked and felt so natural, that the cinematography was like a ghost. Sean Porter did a phenomenal job behind the camera, especially with his use of lighting during night scenes and his framework for the stage and car shots. Period pieces, in particular, need to have continuity locked down in order to effectively transport the audience wherever they need to go. The costume design by Betsy Heimann, the set decoration by Selina van der Brink, the art direction by Scott Plauche, and just the overall production design by Tim Galvin nailed down all the production elements to enable this journey. Everything was so smooth, it’s easy to take for granted just how technically well made this film was.
This one really exceeded all my expectations…granted, those expectations were moderate. Genuinely liking and connecting with the characters you’re watching seems to be something of a lost art but it was so incredibly easy to sit back and enjoy this. I’m not sure that it’s an outright comedy but it has a big heart and manages to be hilarious without being punchline drive. It’s also kind of a Christmas movie, so it’s got you covered there too. There are still a few of the major contenders I have yet to see but for my money…right now…this is Best Picture.
Recommendation: This has been out for a little while at this point, but see it in theaters if you can. Not because the theater experience will make a difference but to demonstrate an investment in true, quality cinema. Smart, funny, heartfelt, and authentic. It’s easily one of the year’s top films and very accessible.