131 - Green Book

It's already being portrayed as the film that will undeservedly win Best Picture for its cuddly, comfortable, comedy-drama version of American racism in the Sixties, but do we dissent from that view? Green Book tells the true story of a road trip through the Deep South shared by jazz pianist Doctor Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and his Italian-American driver Tony (Viggo Mortensen). Mike immediately seizes upon Tony's inconsistent characterisation, the film using other characters to describe him as deeply racist, but his actual interactions with Shirley consisting of essentially polite microaggressions rather than real malevolence and anger. José also takes issue with the revelation that Shirley is gay, Tony having no problem with it, saying that in his regular job as a bouncer he sees it all the time - the film makes no attempt to explain how he can be entirely understanding and accepting of sexuality while intolerant of skin colour. Mortensen, though, is very characterful, imbuing Tony with entertaining irreverence, and the love Tony displays for his wife, writing her letters every day, is very sweet. Ali doesn't match Mortensen's level of performance, though he is perhaps asked less of, largely remaining aloof throughout the film. Again, we find problems in Shirley's characterisation. The film sets him up as a fish out of water, not just as a gay, black man in the Deep South, but also amongst other black people - it's a quirk too far to believe that he's never heard a Chubby Checker or Little Richard record. And the movements made in the film's final minutes to engineer a classic happy ending (at Christmas, no less) are as predictable and obvious as they come, but Mike is moved by the ending nonetheless, leaving the cinema with a smile on his face. Despite the character issues, lack of subtlety (every aspect of the issues it depicts is explained in dialogue), weak visual storytelling (this film doesn't appear to actually know that it's being shown in cinemas, so fully does it lack any sense of cinematic nous or style), and project of delivering an unchallenging, white man's version of racism in which everyone can learn to get along without having to face any hard truths, we found things to like in Green Book, and recommend it as long as you keep your expectations low. Recorded on 7th February 2019.