Green Book

Great movie based on a true story!

I think about this film. I think about relaltionships Ive had but more importantly I think about how a person feels when he is uninvited into society at large. Im glad people are still making films about racism. I think I understand the issue but each film reminds me that I really dont understand how it FEELS. When my grammar school was integrated in the 1940s, I went to school with people of color and didnt think much about how they felt in their daily lives. I was in my 60s when I attended a reunion and found out that one of the brightest women who is a whole lot more successful than I ever was had to sit in the balcony at the movies when we were young . I never thought about where she was when I was with my white friends at the movies. So I recommend that everyone see this film and that more films be made to drive home the point over and over. See this, youll learn something.....perhaps not during the film but while youre stuck in traffic and your mind can think about it.

Pros: The movie was engaging. There were no moments where we were wondering when this seen will end. The actors embodied the characters very well and delivered their lines in a superb manner. Good story line. The movie is not a documentary about the life of Dr. Don Shirley. It is documenting an Italian driver/body guard’s experience, who was hired by the record company to accompanying an African American musician through the Deep South during the sixties and insure the success of this journey. It simplifies racism for an audience that otherwise may not have wanted to see the movie. There are many tragically comedic moments and some moments showing the dichotomy of a situation. While the story does not have an academic level of documentation, at the very least it motivates an intellectual curiosity to want to learn more about Dr. Shirley. The movie has very well written dialogue, such as “the world is full of lonely people who are waiting for the other person to make a move”, another one “genius is not enough, it takes courage..” (I maybe paraphrasing). I particularly appreciated the lack of heavy musical background which made it possible to concentrate on the essence of the movie. Cons: Not at all appropriate for young audience (even if they are older than 13) or family viewing. Swear words were used. It felt like if the director was taking a cheap and easy stab by relying heavily on negative Italian stereotype. The driver character played by non-Italian was made to look stupid and illiterate. But never the less had the ability to navigate successfully through difficult situations. Dr. Shirley was portrayed as a homosexual. Not sure if this is an authentic depiction, however this diversion in the story was sudden and unexpected, it did not seem real. Especially when Dr. Shirley in the movie stated his marriage failed because he could not be a piano player and a husband at the same time. If it is true that he was homosexual, the dialogue at this point should have had some additional discussion of his orientation. Although there was no nudity, I think the movie would have been better if it did not include this unrealistic seen. The end was predictable but I cannot say that I did not enjoy the “feel good” ending.

Great movie, a lot of historical content. Loved that it is based on a true story.

Great movie

Green Book will be notable in movie history if for no other reason than being the 2018 Best Picture winner at the Oscars. I stopped watching the Oscars years ago because they seem to delight in choosing the obscure or films that kowtow to popular fads, but Green Book is one of the rare exceptions that the Oscars got right. This film is the shared story of two disparate characters. The first is Don Shirley, an gifted African-American pianist, trained in Russia, connoisseur of languages, with an apartment above Carnegie Hall. The other was Tony Vallelonga, a rough-and-tumble Italian-American bouncer with connections to organized crime and a tremendous capacity to eat. When Shirley decides to undertake a tour of the Deep South in the early 1960s, he knows he will need protection. On the other hand, the nightclub Tony works at is closed for repairs and he needs a job for the next few months. After interviewing multiple people for the position of chauffeur, bodyguard, and bagman, Don eventually decides to hire Tony. At the beginning of their journey, there is a significant amount of friction between the two. Don is highly cultured, while Tony is salt of the earth; more notably, being of two different races leads Tony to make some insensitive, albeit not malicious, comments. Soon enough, however, Tony helps Don get out of tough situations and they bond. Some of the best scenes in the film are when Don performs. The piano work was actually done by Kris Bowers, but Mahershala Ali carries himself with confidence as he mimics the movements. Despite his obvious talent, Don is never fully accepted by white society. As Don himself notes, he feels too white to fit into black society and too black to join white society. This internal conflict reaches an emotional resolution in one of the final scenes of the film. There has been some criticism from Don Shirleys family that the film whitewashes aspects of his life. Leaving aside the question of whether Shirley was estranged from his kin (I get the impression he was), no story is able to incorporate every single perspective. Tony Vallelonga clearly held Don Shirley in high regard and viewed him as a friend, an attitude many white people fifty years ago were incapable of. More importantly, even if the story were entirely fictional, I think it offers a valuable lesson that we as human beings can learn from others whose experiences (and hence their perspectives) are different from our own. If nothing else, the film acquainted me with Don Shirley, who I had never heard of before, but whose music I now own on vinyl. The moments of levity, drama, and musical virtuosity in this film make it a great way to pass an evening. I highly recommend that everyone take the time to enjoy the performances of Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen.

The DVD played fine without any skips. However, there were two or three places in the DVD where there were light inconsistencies regarding reflections on the windshield and light shining around the characters heads which I do not remember when watching it when it aired on cable. Why was this a copy made in Mexico? I thought that the DVD was US made.

JUST WATCH IT, will not be disappointed!!

Based on real people and events, love this movie, its funny, serious and entertaining account of historical events and has a disney ending.

Loved watching this movie