Green Book

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Anakin W Apr 28, 2019 A bouncer-like Italian in New York is out of jobs. A nice, but simple fella and a true family man. He got a lovely wife and some kids and need a new steady income and luckily for Tony a very gifted pianist is in need of a tour driver. Dr. Donald Shirley is quite the opposite. A loner, that's got a way with both words and manners as well as his piano skills. Back in the 1960's color was still a big matter in the US, and on this journey the two differently colored men get a taste of that. This is a layered but extremely well directed and superbly written film. It's about differences, loneliness, hate, love, fried chicken, standing up for eachother and change, but most importantly it's about friendship. It's cast is brilliant ant the performances are ace. This is a ride that never brings dull or unneeded moments and it's got that bright comedy tones all over and manage to never get silly or dumb. Sure, it's a bit oversentimental and easy to predict, but it works. Think of "The Intouchables" meeting "Driving Miss Daisy" or something. This is fun, this is safe, this is entertaining. I don't get the hate here. Sure, it's a bit controversial with the racial matter stuff, but I find it both important and pretty believeable. One of the better Oscar winners or Oscar nominated films of the year for me. It caught my interest fast and kept me glued, with smiles, laughs and tears all over my face. 8.5 out of 10 gemstones. See more

Apr 27, 2019 perfecta, no se cuantas beses me iso llorar

Hermione S Apr 27, 2019 Great movie! Truly deserves the Best Picture Oscar. Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen make a very good pair.

Apr 26, 2019 There have been many movies made that address the past issues of race and segregation. But none hit the cord of humanity and the soul as this one does. It can be summed up this way: "They started out to change the world, and in the process they found themselves." One of the new best movies out there. My compliments to all who were involved in the orchestration of this masterpiece. See more

Ron P Apr 26, 2019 There was shock and outrage when this admittedly retrograde film took home the Best Picture statuette against more interesting, original and current films like Roma (2018) and The Favorite (2018). Particularly shocking is the fact that the film's director is Peter Farrelly, best known for gross-out comedies like Kingpin (1996) and The Three Stooges (2012), not exactly a Daldry or a Frears. Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali had proven themselves to be Academy favorites in the past, Mortensen has received multiple nominations whilst Ali won for his work in 2016's Moonlight, but their pairing seemed unlikely. Despite all of this and early predictions that Roma would take the prize Green Book triumphed. Tony "the lip" Vallellonga, Viggo Mortensen, is a racist Italian-American in 1950s New York City who is encouraged to question his prejudices when he begins working for educated African-American pianist Don Shirley, Mahershala Ali. Shirley needs a driver and bodyguard as he tours the Southern United States and he has been told that Vallellonga is the man for the job. Both will overcome their preconceptions of one another and learn a little something about themselves as they take a comedic road trip through a dangerous part of America. I quite liked the film, it was funny and charming and the performances of Mortensen, Ali and Linda Cardellini as Mrs. Vallellonga were very good but would I call it better than The Favorite? Well no. It's perfectly OK but it does employ the white savior trope that I hoped we had moved beyond with films like Moonlight (2016) and in the same year If Beale Street Could Talk (2018). It makes you question the demographic makeup of the Academy when a film like this, which would have been illuminating to some members of society in the late 1960s but 50 years later if you can't acknowledge that African-Americans have just as much to offer as white people you are racist not uninformed. It's nice that the highly accomplished actress Octavia Spencer is now an Academy award winning producer but it's saddening that this and The Help (2011), a worse white savior trope movie, are the films that she has been most rewarded for. In short: this is a film that you don't really have to see, much like Darkest Hour (2017) just watching the trailer allows you to understand what the whole two hours will be like. Unless you're a Cardellini fan you can stay away. Some of the gags work really well with the fried chicken scene and the dropping of the cup eliciting a half smile but some of them fall flat like the pronunciation of Vallellonga gag, is it really that hard to pronounce? The gag that really worked for me was the card writing gag as we see Shirley composing romantic letters for Mrs. Vallellonga that she and her friends eagerly await. The card that means the most to her is the one written by her husband as he starts the letter with "You remind me of a big house" but follows this with "Where the lights are always on and everybody is happy inside." His writing of this and her delighted response are very sweet and touching and although it is a very heavy-handed touch, like much of this film, it feels more genuine than most of the film. Linda Cardellini is quite lovely in this film as the reasonable wife who endeavors to bring her husband and Shirley closer together. She has a warmth and a sensibility to her that matches the description of the character and you are often left wondering how Vallellonga nabbed such a wonderful woman. Much like in The Founder (2016), a much better film, she is always a bright spot when she appears on screen and her sparing use leaves you wanting more of her. It is such a shame that the Daddy's Home franchise has become her meal ticket because she has real dramatic abilities and they would be put to use in better films. This was not the best film of 2018 and I would not have even nominated it for Best Picture but of the nominated films I would have given the award to Roma because it is a technical marvel. Hopefully we can leave this sort of film behind and reward more interesting fare in the future. See more

Hermione R Apr 26, 2019 Three great performances highlighting a sad part of US history (and some aspects still existing today).

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