Feel good movie about race relations

Rating: 8/10 (9 May 2019)

The title refers to a travel guide used by African-Americans during the time of segregation to find safe, friendly hotels and restaurants from 1937 to 1966. In 1962, African-American pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) employed Frank Vallelonga, aka "Tony Lip" (Viggo Mortensen) to be his driver and bodyguard when his trio, which included George (Mike Hatton) on the upright bass and Oleg (Dimiter D. Marinov) on the cello, toured the American Midwest and South. Shirley suffers many indignities, and, to a certain extent, Tony can shield him. For example, the trio is employed at a country club in Alabama, but Shirley cannot eat in its restaurant so he and Tony find a BBQ restaurant down the road. Other complications are that Shirley is gay and an alcoholic. The two men bond, of course. One of the funnier scenes takes place when Tony serves Shirley friend chicken without utensils, which Shirley initially refuses because he is a fastidious eater. Overall, this is the feel-good movie of the year, although predictable and rather old-fashioned, and the two leads are excellent with able support by Linda Cardellini as Dolores, Tony's wife. One reviewer described the movie as "The Odd Couple" meets "Driving Miss Daisy". It was based on a true story, and Tony's son Nick co-wrote the screenplay, which won the Oscar in the Original Screenplay category. Unfortunately, it has been a controversial winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture, because many people felt that it oversimplified race relations in the United States and members of Shirley's family have objected to his portrayal.