A fine performance by Mortensen, but an underdeveloped script

Rating: 7/10 (27 January 2019)

Viggo Mortensen definitely gives a fine performance in this movie as Tony Vallelonga, a man who shares the racial prejudices of his Italian-American world but then learns to overcome them during the eight weeks that he drives gay Black piano player Don Shirley through the 1960s American South. It's a great role - as it should be, since the script was written by the real-life character's son, Nick Vallelonga. Granted, it's hard to imagine that a man who came from that much prejudice so easily overcomes homophobia - he's even willing to spend the night in the same bedroom with Shirley - but the script was clearly written to make Tony Vallelonga look good.
Granted, it's a little hard to accept Mortensen physically at times, since the original Vallelonga ate astounding quantities of food - and was a very big guy as a result - but I guess there was no point in putting him in a fat suit.
My problem with the movie, which I enjoyed, is that the script did not do a very good job of developing Don Shirley's character. Anyone who has seen *Midnight* knows that Mahershala Ali, the actor who plays him here, could have handled a complex character, but he isn't given a lot to work with. It's a shame, because it would have made for a more interesting movie.
The whole movie is really the relationship between these two characters. The rest is all fine, but peripheral.