Reverse Driving Miss Daisy meets Big Bang Theory with social commentary

Rating: 7/10 (16 December 2018)

The review title pretty much says it all...don't get me wrong, the film has a lot going for it - but........
SPOILER ALERT
Here is the thing - there are two main characters - Don Shirley - a world class concert pianist who basically is the Miss Daisy. Then there is his chauffeur, Tony Lip - the lower class Italian who gets a temporary gig driving Don Shirley around. In the course of their road trip, the two interact and wind up changing each other - sound familiar?
So the movie alternates between serious scenes and more whimsical scenes. The thing is - Don Shirley comes across almost like Sheldon in Big Bang Theory with times of extreme arrogance and needing things to be just right during the whimsical moments. Really, if you are a fan of Big Bang Theory, you will see echos of Sheldon and it is distracting as all get out.
The movie becomes serious when it talks about race relations in the 60's in the US. Don Shirley is a highly talented black person in an environment where a black is expected to be uneducated and eating fried chicken - like Hidden Figures, it becomes necessary to break that stereotype. These scenes are powerful and meaningful - but we have the same sort of conflicts we have seen in Hidden Figures and The Help - basically black people trying to do things like use the bathroom, eat in certain restaurants and stay in certain motels (the title - Green Book - refers to a guide to establishments that allow black people to use their establishments). OK - I get it - this was actually the way things were and it is an easy way cinematic way to bring the discrimination up the but this is getting well tread.
And as I write this - it becomes obvious that I don't talk about Tony Lip much. He is really a foil for Don Shirley - but taking that out - he is a stereotypical uneducated Italian - hooked up with the mob apparently, smokes and drinks, and will throw a punch in nothing flat.
At the end of the day - OK - we got a necessary history lesson about race relations in the Sixties...with well acted performances to be sure - but it is still a largely formula buddy/road film. Certainly worth a look, but don't expect too much you haven't seen before or new if you are familiar with race relations in the Sixties....