Engaging story about a growing friendship between a couple of disparate hyphenated-Americans

Rating: 8/10 (20 November 2019)

A tough Italian-American from the streets of the Bronx takes on the job of chauffeuring a talented African-American pianist from the lofts of Carnegie Hall through the Deep South in the early 1960s. While pat and predictable at times, the film tells an engaging story about the growing friendship between the disparate leads. Viggo Mortenson is excellent as 'Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga' (a real-life character straight out of a Scorsese screenplay) although at first the character comes off as a bit stereotypical, but I found Mahershala Ali's 'anti-stereotypical' urbane, polyglot classical pianist Don Shirley somewhat of a caricature at times. I liked the film more than I expected to and while I understand why there was some controversy about its somewhat fairy-tale depiction of understanding and reconciliation, the excellent acting and core story of a growing bond between two men make the film well worth watching.