FRIENDSHIP AMID HATE

Rating: 10/10 (4 April 2019)

I've been truly disappointed in the Oscars over the past few years. It seems that movies winning the biggest prizes have always disappointed me, not being movies that I thought were worthwhile but instead movies that were politically correct. This took away the luster that the Oscars had possessed for decades of being movies that were the cream of the crop, the best movies made in any given year. So imagine my surprise to find that this year they chose the right movie when choosing GREEN BOOK as best picture.
The story, based on real life, follows Frank "Tony the Lip" Vallenlonga (Vigo Mortenson) a Brooklyn man striving to make a living to support his family in 1962. Currently Frank works as a bouncer at the Copacabana but the club is shutting down for a few weeks and he's in need of work. A friend tells him he heard about a potential job driving a doctor around for a few weeks. With nothing to lose he gets the address and goes to check out the job.
But the doctor is no physician. Instead he is Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a doctor of music and acclaimed classical piano maestro. What he is looking for is someone to drive him on an 8 week concert tour of the Midwest and deep South, someone who can handle himself if the need arises while on tour. At first unsure if they are compatible or not with Frank being basically an uneducated thug and Shirley being a cultured musician, they agree to terms and Frank is on board. Before taking off the record company provides him half of his fee as well as the Green Book, a book listing hotels and places to eat that will accept blacks.
The trip doesn't begin well with Shirley finding Frank to be uncouth and intolerable to his refined ways. For Frank it's just a job and he's willing to put up with the attitude he gets from Shirley along the way. With each passing mile we learn more about each man though. In Frank's case while his background has led him to think less of blacks he still has an appreciation for many of them. This is shown as they drive and he plays popular music by Chubby Checker and Little Richard which Shirley seems to not know or perhaps not care for.
The stops along the way aren't bad at first but there is still a different treatment to be found for Shirley than there is for the other two white members of his trio and Frank. Frank is stunned at one hotel which the Green Book lists as a wonderful place but turns out to be closer to a low level motel. But it isn't just the places that display the prejudice found in the locations but the prejudice that both men possess as well.
Thrilled when they are in Kentucky to find a Kentucky Fried Chicken joint Frank stops and buys a bucket but Shirley refuses to eat saying eating with his hands just isn't right. Frank threatens to toss a piece in the back seat with him and eventually Shirley takes a piece and begins eating. He's had no experience with fried chicken which Frank can't believe because "his people" all love fried chicken and collard greens. Shirley takes offense to this and after a short argument Frank realizes maybe he doesn't know what being black is all about after all. But Shirley has his own set of prejudices as well. His snobbish ways get to Frank and the two go back and forth as they're on the road. And as the trip progresses they both come to learn about one another.
When the pair begin to move through the South is when bigger issues come to play. As they have traveled Frank has come to appreciate the skill and genius that Shirley displays while performing. He also begins to notice that the people that Shirley performs for might appreciate his skill but not the man. He is refused restrooms, dressing rooms and eventually even a meal in the main restaurant. Where Frank can't understand why he would be treated this way, Shirley knows where it stems from. But can these two men get past all of that?
The movie works on so many levels and never becomes dull. I test a movie on my remote: do I want to fast forward or not? I never felt the need to hold the remote the entire picture. The script is amazing (and an Oscar winner too), the direction is perfect and the acting by both men in the leads is amazing to watch (Ali also won an Oscar for supporting actor).
Perhaps best of all is that we have a movie discussing the history of race relations in this country as they were in the sixties but we don't have that excess amount of violence or required Klan rally to sit through. While these things occurred the story isn't about those things but about how two men can conquer the so called norms of the time and become friends. It shows that such things are indeed possible. That's a story that needs to be told in today's world.