An entertaining if too lite Goombah Driving Miss Daisy

Rating: Null/10 (29 November 2018)

GREEN BOOK. In General Release
The trailers promise a sort of Goombah Driving Miss Daisy. For once, the previews aren't lying. With the races reversed, Peter Farrelly's movie, based on a true tale, tells the story of an Italian restaurant bouncer Tony (Viggo Mortensen) who gets a gig driving black Piano Virtuoso Dr. Shirley (Mahershala Ali) on a tour of the deep south. In 1962. A time and place where a little tough guy bouncing may come in handy. Shirley leads a musical trio, with two other (white) musicians.
GREEN BOOK is genial enough, and, broadly, entertaining. There are a number of feel-good moments and a few that lead to cheers. But, for every successful bit, there are an equal number of groaners - and Kris Bowers' backing score is one long groaner, with every single emotional highlight signaled, underlined and highlighted in musical yellow markers. Fortunately, most of the music we hear is of Dr. Shirley's trio and Tony's fave car tunes including Little Richard, Chubby Checker, Aretha Franklin etc. (incredulously, Dr. Shirley claims to have never heard them prior!).
Mortensen and Ali are fine actors, but, aren't given a shot at much beyond sit-com style hokum. Mortensen comes off at times like he's auditioning for an off-off-Broadway production of Goodfellas. Ali is a bit more effective, but, the script and Farrelly's lite Direction limit him. GREEN BOOK is so genial and it's heart in the right place that it's a difficult movie to outright dislike (although one really does regret that the movie doesn't take the time to fully explain the meaning of the title). Still, it's a movie that would have fit alongside DRIVING MISS DAISY in 1989, but, haven't we moved past it by now?