Works largely because of the solid screenplay and the stellar performances of the leads! [+82%]

Rating: 8/10 (4 March 2019)

'Green Book' definitely plays to the strengths of its two magnificent leads Viggo Mortensen, who plays Tony Lip (a chauffeur who loves his family), and Mahershala Ali, who plays iconic pianist Don Shirley. The film is told majorly from the perspective of Tony, who at the beginning of the film is going through a troubled time after the club he works for, is closed under unforeseen circumstances. This is when he ends up taking a chauffeur-cum-bodyguard job for Shirley who's taking a tour of the South. The pianist makes his entry a good 15-20 minutes in, and by then, we already have an idea what kind of a person Tony is, and what his stand against people from other backgrounds is.
The film builds the relationship between Shirley and Tony one scene at a time, and it does so, at an unhurried pace. Tony realizes how big of a talent Shirley really is, yet he observes Shirley subjecting himself to a tonne of atrocities coming his way by his contractors simply because he is a Jamaican-American. That being said, the film does make us ha-ha a fair bit as well when it's not busy trying to create a 'moment'. The scene where Tony introduces Shirley to Kentucky Fried Chicken is a laugh-riot!
Shirley is safe in the hands of Mahershala Ali whose realistic shades make the character truly magnetic. Mortensen seems to have had a blast playing Tony and it shows. For a movie that has a legendary pianist at its core, the music (by Kris Bowers, additionally a recording by Shirley himself was used; Robert Plant also played a key role in recommending the kind of upbeat music that keeps the film musically rich) is pretty convincing. Ali does his bit to make us feel the effort put in by Shirley during each of his contractual performances.
Linda Cardellini (who plays Tony's wife Dolores) and the rest of the cast provide ample support. Even if one feels that it employs the 'white savior' trope to an extent, the film, on a larger scale, is about how the Tony and Shirley play off each other during their casual conversations and the wonderfully brewing friendship between the two. The title, a reference to the motoring guide for the colored in the Southern part of the States from those trying times, is a subtle shade in itself. The motel-halts made by Tony and Shirley during their journey act as the playground for pivotal incidents that lead to strengthening the bond and levels of compassion between the trash-talking driver and the want-no-trouble pianist.
Green Book makes you guffaw, shed a tear, and feel good at the end of it all - certainly worth the viewing! It will surely win you over with its earnest storytelling, outstanding performances, and the unconventional chemistry between its leads. Knowing when to be funny and serious, the film touches upon a number of concepts that require open discussion in the modern era. Peter Farrelly, known so far as the co-creator of several slapstick comedies (with his brother Bobby), strikes gold in his first solo directorial.