More Than Just a Modern Driving Miss Daisy

Rating: 8/10 (14 December 2018)

Green Book is a movie outside of its time: an adult, Christmas centric, character-driven drama with as much naturalist humor as compelling humanity. Yet despite the trailer's maudlin tone and the familiar racial themes, it's more than just a bad Driving Miss Daisy knockoff. Sure, it dabbles in some of the worst parts of "let's-make-white-Americans-feel-okay-about-their-own-racist-past" storytelling like the white savior and the magical black man clichÃ©s, but it just as often finds time to upend and reverse those very things. Instead of forced and frustrating sentimentality, it's a charming and lovely true story that doesn't sacrifice honest humanity for easy emotions.
The unlikely real friendship of roughneck Italian driver Tony Lip (Mortensen) and acclaimed black pianist Don Shirley (Ali) is refreshingly rare, a biopic that isn't already widely known. It's an episodic roadtrip film that axles itself around the theme of love breaking down stereotypes. The two central performances are the best of what we expect from an Oscar-season tearjerker: big and hammy, but fully engaging and undeniably committed. Ali is solidly stoic, uniquely positioned ("Oh, so knowing who Little Richard is makes you more black than I am?!"), and highly impressive behind the piano; while Mortensen is phenomenally brash, insecure, and downright funny ("'Virtuoso'...it's Italian...means he's, uh...really good.") in a physically unrecognizable turn.
Now, I don't want to pretend this is some sort of big force of cinematic brilliance. The writing is often on-the-nose and the direction regularly pushes its messaging with a heavy hand. Still, it never hurts to be reminded of the stupidity of ignorance. Green Book does just that; perfectly moving, engagingly funny, and maybe the best Christmas movie since Elf.