Friday, June 21, 2019

Movie review: Green Book

 
 When a working-class Italian-American bouncer lands a job driving an African-American classical pianist on a tour of southern U.S. venues during the 1960s, they use The Green Book to find African-American friendly establishments.

Viggo Mortensen (Tony), Mahershala Ali (Dr. Shirley), Linda Cardellini (Dolores), Sebastian Maniscalo (Johnny), Dimiter Marinov (Oleg), Mike Hatton (George), P.J. Byrne (Record Exec).

Green Book begins with some mild character background for Tony before he meets classical pianist Dr. Shirley. Taking a job as his driver, the two embark on a tour of the Southern U.S. during the 1960's using The Green Book to find African-American friendly establishments. The remainder of the film follows their struggles with racism and growth of their friendship and mutual respect.
While the film feels a bit slow at times and the two-hour-plus runtime a bit long, the confrontation of racism kept things fairly interesting when the drama got boring.

Acting was solid with Mortensen delivering very well. Ali was also enjoyable and fit his role nicely. Maniscalo was quiet but good, while Marinov came across as something of a jerk. The remainder of the supporting cast was solid.

Camera work, sets, and backgrounds are good with a varied but solid feel. Action scenes were mild but good. Dialogue had nice depth and added well to the film. Sound and soundtrack are well done.

If you enjoy a solid drama or period pieces you should enjoy this one.

With some mild nudity, violence, and foul language, this should be fine for teens and above.

Released: 2018
Reviewed: 6.17.19
Star rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Drama, Biography, Period Pieces, Dramas Based on Real Life

copyright ©2019 Dave Riedel

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