Chemistry makes the film

Rating: 8/10 (4 February 2019)

'Green Book' is a film that had it not been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards I would probably never have gotten around to seeing. And yet I'm so glad that it was nominated because otherwise I would never have gotten to experience such a great film. This is based off a true story and clearly glamoured up to make a worthy movie out of a simple concept. The chemistry between the two main actors is simply phenomenal and makes this film what it is.
Consequently both Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali have been nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively. Both are fully deserving. Both are almost unrecognisable at times because they lose themselves in their characters so deeply. I have a hard time imagining Mortensen winning, only because the field is so incredibly strong this year. He keeps churning out brilliantly performances every year though and he will get the Oscar he deserves one day. Ali on the other hand I can very much see winning. He had a tremendous amount of screen time for a "Supporting Actor". Combine that with the fact that he was genuinely brilliant and I think you could almost call him a lock.
The film ticks all the boxes for an Oscar movie but I can't see it getting the win for Best Picture, simply because it failed to deliver the knock-out blow. It's consistently charming, genuinely funny, has a beautiful message about acceptance and pushing boundaries, is well acted, well directed and expertly written - and yet I still couldn't help feeling it was missing something. It never had that killer blow moment that knocked me off my feet. I wanted more from the ending (and yes I know it was based on a true story which limits their ability). This is a brilliant movie that just couldn't quite put the cherry on top.