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It’s pure formula, of course. Two men—one white, one black—from polar opposite backgrounds with wildly contrasting personalities get thrown together under unusual circumstances. They learn from each other, change each other for the better and discover that—guess what?—they’re not so different after all.

“Green Book” is all that and more: It also takes place while the two men are driving across the American South during 1962, so it contains multiple formulas at once. It’s the mismatched-buddy road trip movie with a message about race relations, arriving in theaters at the height of awards season and the holidays, just in time to make us all feel better about the world—or at least give us a brief glimmer of hope during this period of political and ideological division. As an added bonus, it also happens to have been inspired by a true story.

But damned if it doesn’t work beautifully for nearly the entirety of its two hour-plus running time. “Green Book” is the kind of old-fashioned filmmaking big studios just don’t offer anymore. It’s glossy and zippy, gliding along the surface of deeply emotional, complex issues while dipping down into them just enough to give us a taste of some actual substance.

And its enjoyability comes almost completely from its starring performances from an excellent Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali . Both actors imbue their roles with precision and pathos. They find nuance within their familiar types individually and share a spirited chemistry with each other. They are a joy to watch together from start to finish, even though you can tell from the beginning exactly how specific moments between them are going to play out by the end.

You may be surprised to learn that this conventional piece of classy, inspirational filmmaking comes from director and co-writer Peter Farrelly , a longtime standard bearer of lowbrow comedy alongside his brother, Bobby. It’s a rare opportunity for him to direct solo, and it may seem like a departure. But the Farrellys’ woefully underappreciated bowling comedy “ Kingpin ” features quite a few of the same sorts of opposites-on-a-road-trip themes, as well as the possibility for unexpected friendship. An underlying sweetness—and the need to be decent to others—quite frequently exists beneath the gross-out gags and bodily fluids that have been the brothers’ bread and butter for decades. And that’s certainly at the heart of “Green Book.”

In a racial flip of “ Driving Miss Daisy ,” nearly 30 years after that film won a handful of Oscars including best picture, “Green Book” features a white man serving as a chauffeur—and valet, and muscle, and all-around problem solver—to a black man. (That’s not to say the film is entirely free of icky white savior moments, but it does offer instances of Ali’s character rescuing Mortensen’s, as well.) The title comes from the travel guide of restaurants and motels blacks were allowed to frequent in the segregated South.

Mortensen’s chameleon-like abilities are on display here once more as he disappears into the role of Tony Vallelonga—or “Tony Lip,” as he’s best known among his fellow Italian-Americans in New York. (Tony’s son, Nick, co-wrote the vivid and affectionate script with Farrelly and Brian Hayes Currie .) A brash and affable lug of a guy with big appetites and an even bigger loyalty to his wife (a lovely Linda Cardellini ) and two young sons, Tony is content staying in the same section of the Bronx where he’s always lived. An ever-present cigarette dangles from his mouth as he mangles the English language. Working as a bouncer at the Copacabana nightclub and gambling here and there for extra cash, he remains just enough on the periphery of the mob to keep himself out of real danger. (In an early moment indicating his sense of right and wrong, he’d rather pawn his watch to make ends meet before Christmas than do a job for some fellas for easy money.)

But then, the possibility of employment comes his way that would allow him to provide real financial stability for his family, even though it would take him away from them for a couple of months. Ali’s Dr. Don Shirley, a world-class pianist, needs someone to drive him on a tour of cities across the Eastern Seaboard and the South, where he’ll perform in both concert halls and private homes. Shirley—or “ Doc ,” as Tony calls him—is everything Tony is not: educated, sophisticated, articulate, meticulous. And black. Tony may be a good guy, but he’s got some antiquated, misinformed ideas about African-Americans and more than a tinge of racism against them, as evidenced by his early reaction to a couple of plumbers working in his home. Clearly, all that is about to change.

Ali brings an elegance to the role but also a moving vulnerability. When we first see him in his ornately appointed apartment above Carnegie Hall, where he’s dressed in robes and jewels and he’s literally sitting on a throne above Tony to interview him for the job, it’s easy to assume he’s simply going to be condescending and persnickety. But Doc reveals shadings and complexity as the road trip progresses, and he hints at the inner torment that’s driven him to build a refined outer shell.

The main pleasure of “Green Book” comes from watching Tony and Doc banter as they make their way from town to town—trading small talk, getting to know each other and getting on each others’ nerves. Their distinct opinions on fried chicken and Little Richard , for example, defy traditional stereotypes. Quite often, their burgeoning friendship plays out exactly the way you expect it will. When Tony’s wife asks him to write her letters from the road, and he demurs out of embarrassment, you know it’s only a matter of time before Doc is helping him craft eloquent, romantic missives to send her.

But other scenes offer some surprises in the details through which they’re executed. This is especially true in the powerful piano performances (achieved with the help of a body double, although Ali’s graceful demeanor is convincing). They indicate the transformation occurring between the two men as well if not better than their dialogue, especially during the final show of the trip, where many of the movie’s ideas about race and identity wrap up in joyous, satisfying fashion. You may actually find yourself getting a bit choked up by the end, even though you’ve been on this journey countless times before.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film Credits

Green Book (2018)

Rated PG-13 for thematic content, language including racial epithets, smoking, some violence and suggestive material.

130 minutes

Viggo Mortensen as Tony Lip

Mahershala Ali as Don Shirley

Linda Cardellini as Dolores

Don Stark as Jules Podell

Sebastian Maniscalco as Johnny Venere

Tom Virtue as Morgan Anderson

Brian Stepanek as Graham Kindell

Joe Cortese as Joey Loscudo

• Peter Farrelly
• Nick Vallelonga
• Brian Hayes Currie

Cinematographer

• Sean Porter
• Patrick J. Don Vito
• Kris Bowers

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Green Book Review

Mahershala ali and viggo mortensen give fantastic performances in a message movie that fumbles the message..

Green Book lacks the depth it aspires to, and only works on a very superficial level. Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali give exceptional performances but this message movie fumbles its message, refusing to portray one hero negatively enough to make their journey meaningful, and getting weirdly judgmental about the other hero, who’s already accomplished more in their lifetime than any of us could ever hope to.

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Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali make odd-couple story shine in Green Book': EW review

Leah Greenblatt is the critic at large at Entertainment Weekly , covering movies, music, books, and theater. She is a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, and has been writing for EW since 2004.

Viggo Mortensen has played nearly everything onscreen — Amish barn raiser, Russian mob fixer, backwoods radical, Tolkien warrior king — but he’s never been a mook. It’s almost impossible to picture the fine-boned Danish-American actor as Tony “Lip” Vallelonga until you see him up there, all marinara-sauced vowels and Brylcreemed hair, working his bada bing like Joe Pesci’s chin-dimpled brother.

As a Bronx security man who agrees to drive a black musician (Mahershala Ali) through the Deep South circa 1962, he has by far the showiest role in Peter Farrelly’s winning dramedy, and it might finally earn him the Oscar he’s long deserved. The movie wouldn’t work, though, without the elegant, understated balance of his counterpart.

Ali’s Dr. Don Shirley is a brilliant piano maestro, celebrated in the world’s finest private homes and concert halls — he’s performed twice for the sitting president and lives in a lavish apartment above Carnegie Hall — but he hasn’t ever taken his show below the Mason-Dixon. He also doesn’t quite know what to do with a man like Tony, with his bearish habits and blunt-force personality.

Green Book is inspired by a true story, and the script — written by Farrelly, Brian Currie, and Vallelonga’s real-life son Nick — hits many of the beats you’d expect. The bigotry the pair encounters ranges from politely insidious to outright savage; the odd-couple bonding happens inevitably, in picturesque fits and starts.

But it’s hard to overstate how charming it all is, and how much both actors make the material shine. (Linda Cardellini is great, too, in a small but pivotal role as Tony’s wife.) In a world that seems to get uglier every day, this movie’s gentle heart and mere humanity feel like a salve. B+

Related content:

• See the stars of AFI Fest in EW and Audi’s portrait studio
• Green Book team on why the film’s ‘feel-good’ label ‘makes it sound squeakier-clean than it is

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Film Review: ‘Green Book’

Viggo Mortensen gains 30 pounds to play a racist chauffeur who comes around in this feel-good flip on the 'Driving Miss Daisy' formula.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

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OK, class, who can explain what a Green Book is? For those who don’t know, it was a handbook for black motorists seeking “vacation without aggravation,” an indispensable travel guide listing friendly places to stay and tips for avoiding trouble in the Jim Crow South. As such, “Green Book” makes a clever title for a road movie unlike any other: the true story of the unlikely friendship between a black concert pianist and the New York City bouncer hired to chauffeur him through unfriendly territory.

Although inspirational on its surface, the film presents a pretty bleak picture of intolerance in 1962 America, when segregation and other openly racist policies would have made such a trip a dangerous prospect for a wealthy, well-educated black man, with or without a bruiser like Frank Anthony Vallelonga to watch his back. Featuring a pair of terrific performances by Viggo Mortensen as a goombah with a heart of gold and Mahershala Ali as multilingual composer-musician Don Shirley, the story may be unique, yet it goes pretty much exactly the way you might expect, with one huge twist: The credits read “Directed by Peter Farrelly ” — which means this feel-good tour through American bigotry was made by one-half of the sibling duo responsible for “Dumb and Dumber” and “There’s Something About Mary.”

Turns out, that’s not such a bad thing, considering that the Farrelly brothers (whose gross-out sensibility ushered in the current era of R-rated comedies) showed that they were really a couple of sentimental softies somewhere around the time of “Shallow Hal.” Besides, if ever there was a project to challenge audiences’ assumptions about what certain people are capable of, this is it.

A play-it-safe crowd-pleaser in the family-friendly vein of “Hidden Figures” and “The Help” — movies that condemn racism as if the problem were already solved rather than still alive and well — “Green Book” may as well be “Driving Miss Daisy” in reverse, focusing on the inevitable fireworks when an elegant black man hires an ill-mannered guy from the Bronx to drive him around the South. It works on account of the chemistry between the two leads, both of whom are showing audiences a different side of themselves.

Enjoying his first starring role post-“Moonlight,” Ali may as well be playing the opposite of the empathetic drug dealer whose too-brief screen time in the first segment of Barry Jenkins’ film lifted the entire experience: Dr. Don Shirley is a regal black man whose cultured upbringing makes him an uptight Henry Higgins type to Mortensen’s Tony (who calls him “Doc” for short). Meanwhile, packing on 30 pounds to play a good old boy from the Bronx, Viggo gets a laugh every time he opens his mouth — always for one of two purposes: either to hustle whoever’s listening into giving him what he wants (hence his nickname, “Tony Lip”) or else to stuff food inside it (he seems to spend half the movie eating, whether it’s engaging in hot dog-eating contests at the local diner or alone in his hotel room, folding a pizza in half for a late-night snack).

We seldom get to see Mortensen in comic roles, but his goofy, sideways smile seems perfectly suited to this one, making it hard — even when he’s saying things that are nowhere near politically correct — to dislike the guy for long. Then again, it’s the responsibility of movies like this to remind audiences that attitudes were not always so enlightened when it comes to race relations in this country, and “Green Book” does a fine job of depicting the rampant disrespect that people of color were shown not only in the Deep South but also in New York City, where Shirley keeps an elaborately decorated apartment above Carnegie Hall (end-credits photos suggest the production designers actually downplayed his eclectic decorating style).

Costume designer Betsy Heimann outfits Ali in period-specific clothes that make it perfectly clear, from the moment he first appears on-screen, that Shirley is proud of his heritage and, for the remainder of the film, that he belongs to a much better class than Tony, who’s seen splattering a client’s blood across the front of his red Copacabana blazer in the opening scene. When the club closes for renovations, working-class Tony needs to find another gig fast, so long as it’s honest (if he’s not careful, the Sopranos-like local crime families will have him doing shady side jobs), which is how he finds himself interviewing for the role of Dr. Shirley’s driver on an eight-week concert tour — which will mean leaving wife Linda Cardellini home with the kids, while Shirley’s two fellow musicians, bassist Mike Hatton and Russian cellist Dimiter D. Marinov, take their own car.

One of the running themes in “Green Book” — and perhaps the quality two guys from such different cultural backgrounds saw and respected in each other — is these men each observe unwritten codes of honesty and honor, and though they don’t always align, they come from a place of personal integrity. Of course, it’s a nice reversal that, as this uncouth white guy’s boss, Shirley has the power to insist that Tony adhere to his values, which means forcing him to return a “lucky rock” stolen from a roadside stand. Later, as their dynamic starts to loosen, they trade requests: Tony talks Shirley into trying some genuine Kentucky Fried Chicken, but Shirley gets the last laugh, insisting that Tony go back after tossing his empty soda cup out the window.

The movie would be plenty amusing if it were focused entirely on these two characters getting to know each another, opening one another’s eyes in the process. But given their route, it’s the audience’s eyes that are opened as “Green Book” shows just how inhuman Americans could be to their neighbors in 1962: At first, it’s just the indignity of not being allowed to eat, sleep, or relieve oneself in the same establishments, until one night in Kansas, when Shirley ventures into a bar alone and receives a beating for the simple fact of being black. Tony shows up just in time to rescue Shirley from the rednecks’ clutches, but it’s a clue to the abuse that lies ahead — not only from belligerent hicks but also from the police (they’re pulled over more than once) and, most insultingly, from the high-society whites who’ve engaged Shirley’s services.

Oh, but to hear Shirley play! Mortensen’s role may be the showier of the two, but Ali is a marvel to watch in his musical performances. The actor suggests Eddie Murphy in “Coming to America” crossed with the composure Adrien Brody brought to “The Pianist,” where performing serves as a way to communicate across cultural differences, and also to redirect the frustration of all the ways he has been mistreated. Constantly rewarding us with music, the soundtrack mixes the trio’s concert pieces with “black music” that Shirley doesn’t recognize — like Little Richard and Chubby Checker — culminating in an impromptu Christmas concert and the group-hug ending audiences want. “Green Book” can’t heal racism, but it’s a reminder that spending time with people different from ourselves, even if only in the dark on a movie screen, can be the key to combating prejudice.

Related: “Green Book” Is a Story Perfect for Today

Reviewed at Toronto Film Festival (Gala Presentations), Sept. 11, 2018. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 130 MIN.

• Production: A Universal Pictures release of a Participant Media, DreamWorks Pictures presentation of a Charles B. Wessler, Innisfree Pictures production, in association with Cinetic Media. Producers: Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga. Executive producers: Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Octavia Spencer, Kwame L. Parker, John Sloss, Steven Farneth. Co-producer: James B. Rogers.
• Crew: Director: Peter Farrelly. Screenplay: Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly. Camera (color, widescreen): Sean Porter. Editor: Patrick J. Don Vito. Music: Kris Bowers.
• With: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali , Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dimiter D. Marinov, P.J. Byrne.

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Green Book Review

08 Feb 2019

The story of Tony Lip and Don Shirley is not a wildly original one. It’s an odd-couple road trip about how we’re all not so different, after all. No wheels are being reinvented here: it’s Driving Miss Daisy by way of Planes, Trains And Automobiles , if you like. But the execution is so outrageously appealing and good-hearted that surrendering to its charms feels like the only option. Peter Farrelly , most commonly known for leaning on the cheapest, dirtiest jokes he can find with his brother Bobby, here summons a gentler, more character-driven kind of humour, while telling a serious story about the compromises that African-Americans have been long forced to make by an oppressive white status quo.

What makes the film so compelling is the chemistry that crackles from the central pair of actors. As Tony Lip, Viggo Mortensen ’s enjoyably larger-than-life performance sometimes skirts the fringes of caricature, but you can’t fault the all-encompassing commitment or his performance. As with Don Shirley, we’re soon worn down by his gregariousness, and taken by his transformation; any memory of the softly spoken Dane who once wielded the reforged sword from the shards of Narsil is soon quashed at the sight of his unbelievable (and apparently real) Italianate gut.

The central humanistic message is important, necessary and correct.

Mahershala Ali ’s Don Shirley is a contrast, in every sense. A model of quiet elegance and self-possession, there’s humour to be found in his obsessive-compulsiveness and almost regal particularisms. But Ali, who has always been an incredibly thoughtful actor, coats his performance with a dignity and melancholy. His is not the average black experience in America, but as we later learn, he deliberately chooses to tour more hostile areas of the country, using his position as a celebrated musician for the sake of progress.

There’s been a fair few criticisms of Green Book ’s somewhat rose-tinted take on the appallingly violent reality of the Jim Crow South. You could certainly argue that its handle on racial politics is simplistic. But the film doesn’t shy from depicting racism in its ugliness and sadism when it counts. That it also acknowledges the intersectionality of Don’s experiences as a gay black man should not be ignored.

There are legitimate concerns that Green Book settles for lazy tropes about white saviours, but the central humanistic message is important, necessary and correct, and the fact that what could be a stiff, awards-hungry ‘message movie’ is in fact a crowdpleasing slice of mainstream entertainment means that message can reach audiences in all corners. At a time when racists are feeling more emboldened than they have any right to, that’s a very welcome message indeed.

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Green Book Reviews

The score and editing are not memorable at all, with some scenes just feeling out of place, and a soundtrack that feels too on the nose at times.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Apr 4, 2024

Green Book tells the story of the friendship between the renowned pianist and composer Don Shirley, and his driver and bodyguard Tony “Lip” Vallelonga in the sixties. The different cultures and social classes will be the main focus of the action.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 27, 2024

An enjoyable buddy flick with strong performances from Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, it’s a shame the plot ends up being so passé – as well intentioned and entertaining as it is.

Full Review | Jun 27, 2023

Despite good intentions, a promising scenario and fine performances, “Green Book” is the latest version of Hollywood’s “Great White Savior” movie.

Full Review | Dec 7, 2022

The biggest strength lies in the chemistry between Mortensen and Ali. Without it the entire movie would fall apart.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 21, 2022

Green Book is not for the cold-hearted cynic, but for the romantic moviegoer who wants nothing more than to see the good in people and let that feeling wash over them.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 17, 2022

Tears will be shed, laughs will be had, and crowds will love it. The viewer might not always feel good about how those reactions are achieved; despite the overwhelming feel-goodness of the experience, you can see Green Book's gears operating.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 8, 2022

This is a deftly scripted comedy with a message. Anchored by two outstanding performances, this true story of an unlikely friendship will warm even the most jaded of hearts with its comic look on a dark chapter of American history.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 1, 2021

It's irresponsible and dismissive of the very thing it seemingly wants to talk about.

Full Review | Original Score: 2. 5 / 5 | Jun 25, 2021

With so many other recent movies finding a way to address racial issues in both entertaining and considerate methods, Green Book feels like a wrongheaded throwback. It may give you some good feelings, but its message is only half-baked.

Full Review | Apr 29, 2021

For its humanistic, anti-racialist message-the elementary notion that white and black people can get along-Green Book has been well received by audiences.

Full Review | Feb 17, 2021

Probably could have hit a little harder but its message of unity, of creating bridges rather than walls, is a welcome one in these politically divisive times.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 3, 2021

The two leads are quite impressive, managing to overcome the limitations of their largely stock roles.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Dec 6, 2020

It's a movie about racism by whites for whites and in a year full of extraordinary films about race by black filmmakers, Green Book sticks out like a sore thumb partially because of that.

Full Review | Oct 2, 2020

it's light and breezy and matter-of-fact and truly, truly entertaining.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4.0 | Sep 9, 2020

Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen are a match made in heaven. In its political correctness, it finds moments of truth. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10 | Sep 2, 2020

"Green Book" is one of those rare crowd pleasers with the chops to go the Oscar distance. It's a film most easily described as a reverse "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989) when really it's so much more than that.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 29, 2020

For the most part it's solid, even though it's about as subtle as a piano falling down a flight of stairs.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 16, 2020

Ali is stuck trying to breathe life into a cardboard cutout of a real person who . . . is left standing like an uncooked noodle who only curdles when the script lets him.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jul 25, 2020

...the relationship at its core helps to dilute its sentimentality before it overwhelms the film. Like Dr. Shirley, Green Book doesn't sell out entirely, just a little bit.

Full Review | Jul 24, 2020

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Crowd-pleasing drama explores race, class, friendship.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Positive messages related to race, class, discrimi

Dr. Shirley is a genius, a world-class musician wh

Fistfight after verbal confrontation in and in fro

A married couple hugs and kisses. Two people who w

Frequent language includes two uses of "f--k," plu

Brands used to establish historical accuracy inclu

Tony smokes cigarettes constantly. A woman sells c

Parents need to know that Green Book is a drama set in the 1960s about a racist Italian American man (Viggo Mortensen) who takes a temporary job chauffeuring an acclaimed black pianist (Mahershala Ali) during his concert tour of the Midwest and Deep South. Called by some a "race-flipped Driving Miss Daisy…

Positive Messages

Positive messages related to race, class, discrimination. Encourages people to look beyond prejudices to see people as individuals, not stereotypes. Even if some stereotypes apply (Tony is Italian and does like pasta and pizza), they shouldn't be assumed (Dr. Shirley has never eaten fried chicken). Argues that individual connection and friendship can break down barriers, discrimination, racism. Empathy a clear theme.

Positive Role Models

Dr. Shirley is a genius, a world-class musician who takes the time to help Tony better himself. He's also an example of a man doing his best to defy stereotypes about black men in Jim Crow South. Tony doesn't allow his racism to get in the way of taking the job, connecting with Dr. Shirley. They learn to look past prejudices and form an unlikely bond.

Violence & Scariness

Fistfight after verbal confrontation in and in front of nightclub. A black man gets beaten up in a bar for no reason. Tony threatens to pull out a gun to defend Dr. Shirley; bartender then pulls out shotgun. Police officer stops Tony and Dr. Shirley's car; after Tony punches cop, cop arrests both men, making veiled threats about "boy" being "his." Men who engaged in sexual activity are caught, handcuffed.

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Sex, Romance & Nudity

A married couple hugs and kisses. Two people who were engaging in sexual activity are shown after the fact, naked but curled up so that no sensitive body parts are shown.

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Frequent language includes two uses of "f--k," plus "goddamn," "s--t," "a--hole," "bulls--t," "son of a bitch," "Jesus Christ," "bastard," "pr--k," "t-ts," "hell," "crap," and "garbage." "Christ" as an exclamation. Also many racial epithets: "eggplant," "coon," "boy," the "N" word, "chink," "spool," "kraut," "stooge," and "brillo pad," as well as "wop," "guinea" and "hillbilly." The word "colored" is used to describe black people.

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Products & Purchases

Brands used to establish historical accuracy include Cadillac, Cutty Sark whisky, Steinway pianos, Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Tony smokes cigarettes constantly. A woman sells cigarettes at a club. Adults drink alcohol in bars at meals, parties, and by themselves. Dr. Shirley drinks from a bottle of whiskey (presumably nearly the entire bottle) every night. He gets drunk at a bar.

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Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Green Book is a drama set in the 1960s about a racist Italian American man ( Viggo Mortensen ) who takes a temporary job chauffeuring an acclaimed black pianist ( Mahershala Ali ) during his concert tour of the Midwest and Deep South. Called by some a "race-flipped Driving Miss Daisy ," the crowd-pleasing story explores how the two men had to abide by the titular Green Book, a "traveling while black" guide to restaurants and accommodations that allowed black guests in the '60s. Characters get beaten and threatened (including with a shotgun), there's a fistfight, and two men are handcuffed after being caught engaging in sexual activity (nothing sensitive shown). There's also quite a bit of language (including "s--t," the "N" word, and more) and drinking/smoking. But the film's messages about empathy and the danger of prejudice and stereotypes are important and thought-provoking. And the story is a timely reminder of how, just a few decades ago, there were whole parts of the country where segregation kept African Americans from fully participating in civic life. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Based on 20 parent reviews

The review for "Sex, Romance & Nudity" is technically correct but intentionally misleading.

What's the story.

Inspired by a true story, GREEN BOOK takes place in 1962 and follows Tony "Lip" Vallelonga ( Viggo Mortensen ), a white, Italian American New York City bouncer who takes a temporary job driving black concert pianist Dr. Don Shirley ( Mahershala Ali ) as he travels throughout the Midwest and the Deep South on a concert tour. The movie's title refers to a (now historical) guide for what Tony calls "traveling while black": The Green Book is a directory of restaurants and accommodations that cater to African Americans throughout the segregated South. As the vulgar, working-class, and admittedly racist Tony and the incredibly well-educated, intelligent Dr. Shirley get to know each other on the road, they challenge stereotypes and grow to form an unlikely friendship. But the farther into the South they travel, the more they're forced to deal with everything from Jim Crow laws to hate crimes.

Is It Any Good?

Mortensen and Ali both give fabulous performances in this feel-good road-trip drama that's part buddy comedy, part history lesson, and part social commentary on friendship and race. Director Peter Farrelly , best known for raunchy comedies like There's Something About Mary , brings out the humor in Tony and Dr. Shirley's interactions; he allows the actors to shine in completely opposing ways. Mortensen, who reportedly gained more than 30 pounds for the role, immerses himself in showy Bronx bravado, while Ali is a picture of nuanced restraint, with plenty of emotion simmering beneath the surface. Both portrayals are award-worthy, as are Ali's musical performances (he went through extensive piano training to pull them off).

It's not easy to revisit a time in history when gifted black artists could entertain all-white crowds but not sit or dine among them -- or even use the same bathroom. Dr. Shirley refuses to lower himself via vulgarity or even by listening to popular music (he can't tell Aretha Franklin from Chubby Checker), and he fully understands that the moment he steps off stage, he's just another black man to the white audiences who moments earlier applauded his talent. While Tony isn't in the role of the dreaded "white savior," Green Book 's story is more about him than Dr. Shirley, who's infinitely more self-aware -- and also more of a mystery. It feels like a bit of a missed opportunity that Dr. Shirley's personal life isn't explored via more than a couple of references to his estranged brother and a failed marriage and one poignant monologue about not fitting into either white or black society. Especially considering that viewers meet nearly all of Tony's large Italian family, including his more open-minded wife, Dolores ( Linda Cardellini ), to whom he writes (with help from Dr. Shirley) increasingly poetic love letters from the road. Really, the entire movie is a love letter of sorts -- to a friendship that's a reminder that the world needs more empathy and human connection ... not to mention mind-blowing music.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in Green Book . What effect does it have? What does it mean for the story? What's the impact of media violence on kids?

How does the movie address and handle the topics of race and segregation? What about class? How does Dr. Shirley defy others' prejudices and expectations?

Which characters do you consider role models ? What character strengths do they display? How do both main characters show empathy ?

Some have criticized the movie for the fact that, despite the title, it focuses more on Tony's life than Dr. Shirley's. And some of Dr. Shirley's relatives have taken issue with how he's portrayed in the film. Why do you think filmmakers might choose to alter facts when making a movie? How can you find out more about what happened?

How have things changed since the movie's 1960s setting? How haven't they?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 16, 2018
• On DVD or streaming : March 12, 2019
• Cast : Viggo Mortensen , Mahershala Ali , Linda Cardellini
• Director : Peter Farrelly
• Inclusion Information : Black actors, Female actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : History
• Character Strengths : Empathy
• Run time : 130 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG-13
• MPAA explanation : thematic content, language including racial epithets, smoking, some violence and suggestive material
• Awards : Academy Award , Common Sense Selection , Golden Globe
• Last updated : December 15, 2022

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‘Green Book’ Review: Odd-Couple Dramedy Is Timely Feel-Good Movie

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Dr. Don Shirley ( Mahershala Ali ), an African-American classical-trained pianist on a jazz-trio tour in a part of 1960’s America that’s not prepared to embrace integration. In his search for a chauffeur, Don makes the curious choice of Frank Anthony Vallelonga, a.k.a. Tony Lip ( Viggo Mortensen ), a loudmouth Italian cliché temporarily off the Mob payroll as a bouncer back in New Yawk. They sure as hell don’t get off to an amicable start, with Don sitting like a king in a chic apartment above Carnegie Hall. Tony tells his client that he’s open-minded, claiming that “my wife and I had a couple coloreds over for drinks.” (In an earlier scene, two black men working in Tony’s home drink from glasses that he later trashes.)

What follows is a reverse twist on Driving Miss Daisy, as the duo set off on an eight-week concert tour filled with dangerous obstacles. Driver and passenger have two things on their side: Tony’s muscle and The Negro Motorist Green-Book, a travel guide published from 1936 to 1966 to assist black travelers about where to stay and what to avoid in the Jim Crow South. Welcome to Green Book, the winner of the Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award this year that’s “inspired” (that word!) by their real-life friendship.

Famed for the gross-out comedies he made with his brother Bobby — dump all you want on Dumb & Dumber, but Kingpin is immortal — Peter Farrelly’s impressive solo directorial debut the movie’s shifting tones; co-written by Farrelly, Brian Hayes Currie and Tony’s son, Nick Vallelonga, the script is filled with a piercing gravity that deepens the funny business. There are easy laughs when Tony teaches Don about the wonders of fried chicken while the musician helps his driver write letters home to his wife, Dolores (Linda Cardellini). And there are also bruising glimpses into a time when 
racial profiling had the law on its side. Green Book is a movie about class as well as race, and Farrelly rightly refuses to paint a pretty picture.

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Ali, a Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner for Moonlight, is superb at finding the buried rage in a refined artist challenging fellow Americans who never accepted the abolition of slavery. He makes us see that Don is on his own when it comes to finding a place to belong. And the actor, who had help from a pianist double in the club scenes, is simply stupendous at showing Don alive in his art. Tony senses his genius, but is horrified that Don doesn’t know Chubby Checker or Little Richard. “I’m blacker than you are,” the working-class driver snaps.

Mortensen is terrific, having beefed up by 30 pounds to play this bruiser with a Bronx honk and the dazed realization that his fists can’t change a damn thing. Sure, Tony roughs up white hypocrites who applaud the musician onstage and then bar him from their restaurants. But don’t mistake him for another white savior. The role is a game-changer for an actor, whose dramatic chops are a given (see his Academy nods for Eastern Promises and Captain Fantastic ) but proves he’s got a real flair for comedy that feels revelatory. He and Ali could take their own double act on the road.

Green Book ends in a gush of Christmas-themed feel-good that will probably drive some folks nuts. But look closer and you’ll see that 
Farrelly never forgets the shadows lurking outside the fierce but fragile connection that Don and Tony have forged over two mercurial months on the road. Simplistic? Maybe. But in a time when our nation is more divided than ever, the movie offers the possibility of redemption. Thanks to the dream team of Mortensen and Ali, audiences will be cheering. And they’ll be right.

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‘Green Book’ Review: A Moving, Charming Buddy Movie About Race | TIFF 2018

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali give great performances in Peter Farrelly's racially-charged new film.

If there was a pleasant surprise at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, it was Peter Farrelly 's interracial buddy movie Green Book , which came out of nowhere to win the festival's audience award and cement a place for itself in this year's Oscar race.

Viggo Mortensen stars as Tony Villelonga, aka Tony Lip, who works security at the Copacabana in New York City. When the club shuts down for a few months, he's forced to find a new job in order to make ends meet, and he's offered a gig as a driver. Of course, this is no ordinary job. His boss is Dr. Paul Shirley ( Mahershala Ali ), a renowned African-American pianist who has decided, with little regard for his own safety, to tour the Deep South, where racism still runs rampant. That's why he needs a driver who can handle himself on the road, and provide a little muscle in case the circumstances call for it. And so begins their road trip, with Tony's wife ( Linda Cardellini ) making sandwiches for the long ride.

Along the way, Dr. Shirley challenges Tony to be better, whether it’s his language or littering on the highway or stealing a jade rock that he "found" on the ground. Of course, Dr. Shirley's journey is not without its own set of challenges. For example, he performs for the white elite, but they won’t let him eat dinner alongside them, and still treat him like the help rather than the revered artist he is. Sometimes Tony is there to get him out of those racially-charged jams, but there are some sticky situations that he can't get Dr. Shirley out of, and in fact, only escalates with his lunkheaded machismo. The fact that Dr. Shirley maintains his dignity in the face of all this hatred is a testament to his character, and Ali does justice to the role by maintaining his composure, even when fire burns within his eyes. Perhaps that fire exists because he’s hiding a secret, one that Tony is careful not to judge him for. Mortensen does a wonderful job of showing Tony's big heart in this surprising sequence, which is quite effective.

In the middle of all of this, Dr. Shirley helps Tony pen love letters to his wife. If there's a weak element to this film, it's probably this one, as Tony's marriage isn't particularly all that interesting. But it's important that one of the two leads has a family, if only to contrast the fact that the other doesn't. Indeed, Dr. Shirley has no family or significant romantic interest, as he is instead surrounded by artifacts from his worldly adventures. That's why his friendship with Tony -- inspired by a true one, as the trailer so helpfully notes -- is so meaningful. Even though Tony can't always find the right words to communicate his feelings, he and Dr. Shirley come to an understanding as men. It may sound Lifetime-y, but it's actually very touching, brought to life by the grace of two wildly talented performers in sync with each other. Seriously, this film is like a duet, with laughs and tears in equal measure.

The title refers to The Negro Motorist Green Book , which African-American visitors to the South used as a guide to identify which hotels and restaurants would welcome them without hassle. It doesn't have much bearing on the film -- there aren't a bunch of scenes where Tony consults the book or anything -- but it's actually an interesting way to sell this film, symbolically, at least.

Those who dismiss Green Book as little more than “a reverse Driving Miss Daisy ” would be wrong to do so. This is a truly moving, wonderfully charming crowdpleaser that strikes me as perfect film to see with your family over Thanksgiving, when it is scheduled for release. Believe the hype, this is the real deal, and a major accomplishment for director Peter Farrelly. Let this be a lesson not to put filmmakers, or artists of any kind, really, into a box. For in the end, Green Book says it takes more than genius, it takes courage to change people’s hearts. Well it also took some courage for Farrelly to challenge himself with this kind of material, which can be especially tricky in the hands of a white filmmaker, but the audience ate it up, and bolstered by two excellent performances, it may very well prove to be the sleeper hit of awards season.

For more of our reviews from the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, click on the links below:

• American Dharma
• Assassination Nation
• Beautiful Boy
• Can You Ever Forgive Me?
• The Death and Life of John F. Donovan
• The Front Runner
• The Hate U Give
• Hotel Mumbai
• If Beale Street Could Talk
• The Kindergarten Teacher
• Old Man & the Gun
• Outlaw King
• The Predator
• The Sisters Brothers
• The Standoff at Sparrow Creek
• A Star Is Born
• What They Had
• White Boy Rick

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‘Green Book’ Review: A Road Trip Through a Land of Racial Clichés

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‘Green Book’ | Anatomy of a Scene

Peter farrelly narrates a sequence from his film featuring viggo mortensen and mahershala ali..

“Hi. I’m Pete Farrelly, co-writer and director of “Green Book.” “Green Book” is the story of Don Shirley, a concert pianist played by Mahershala Ali, who, in 1962, had to go on a tour of the south. He hired a bouncer, Tony Lip, played by Viggo Mortensen here, to drive him. This is a scene early on in the movie when they stopped to get a pack of cigarettes. And Tony Lip gets out, finds a jade stone on the ground, but it’s next to where they’re selling gemstones. Obviously somebody dropped it there. He puts it in his pocket. Thinks, well, it’s on the ground. I can have it. And is accused of stealing it by the other band members. The point of this scene is — it’s a true story, by the way — that it’s something that Tony Lip told us — we had audiotapes of Tony Lip telling stories about Dr. Shirley trying to teach him. He said, you know, I love that man — Dr. Shirley — and the reason I do is because he was always trying to make me smart.” “Before we pull out, Tony, we need to have a talk.” “Eh?” “Oleg told me what you did.” “What’d I do?” “You stole a jade stone from the store.” “No, I didn’t.” “He watched you do it.” “I didn’t steal no stone.” “You picked it up and put it in your pocket.” “I picked up a rock off o’ the ground. I didn’t steal from a box.” “Now, why would you pick up a rock off the ground?” “I don’t know. Because it ain’t stealing. It’s just a regular rock.” “And why would you want a regular rock?” “To have. For luck, maybe.” “A lucky rock?” “Yeah.” “Let me see it.” “The thing that really comes through here is a parent-child relationship is forming. Dr. Shirley is educated. Tony Lip’s — sixth grade education, but really didn’t pay attention after third grade.” “Take it back and pay for it.” “And he’s being schooled by Dr. Shirley. Dr. Shirley — if he’s gonna be spending a couple of months with him, he’s trying to help him in the way he talks, the way he speaks, the way he treats people, the way he acts.” “Do not drive, Mr. Vallelonga.” “It helps that Dr. Shirley’s in control when he doesn’t get out. He doesn’t do anything. He sits there. And Tony has to turn to him, and Tony has to stretch around him, and he’s just such a child in this scene, the way he reacts to everything. It’s like if you caught a five-year-old stealing gum at the grocery store. That’s how he reacts. I liked Viggo having to turn toward him, and it just felt like he was at a disadvantage in that scene. And it helped empower Dr. Shirley that he could just sit back and control it.” “If you’d like, Tony, I’d happily buy you the stone.” “Don’t bother. You took all the fun out of it.”

By A.O. Scott

• Nov. 15, 2018

“Green Book” is a road movie set in 1962, long before Apple or Google Maps or Waze, but as it makes its way from New York to Alabama and back, you might nonetheless imagine a little GPS voice in your ear telling you what’s up ahead.

There is virtually no milestone in this tale of interracial male friendship that you won’t see coming from a long way off, including scenes that seem too corny or misguided for any movie in its right mind to contemplate. “Siri, please tell me they’re not going there.” Oh, but they are.

“There” includes an entire subplot devoted to fried chicken, which the African-American member of the buddy duo has never eaten. He eventually (spoiler alert) acquires a taste, thanks in part to the urgings of his white counterpart.

The crispy poultry motif figures heavily in the “Green Book” trailers, conceivably as a warning. Every suspicion you might entertain — that this will be a sentimental tale of prejudices overcome and common humanity affirmed; that its politics will be as gently middle-of-the-road as its humor; that it will invite a measure of self-congratulation about how far we, as a nation, have come — will be confirmed.

Because the white guy, an erstwhile nightclub bouncer named Frank Anthony Vallelonga and known as Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), is behind the wheel of a car while the black guy, the pianist and composer Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), rides in back, “Green Book” seems to invite comparison to “Driving Miss Daisy.” But its pedigree is slightly different, reaching back through the Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor comedies of the 1970s to “The Defiant Ones” in 1958, which starred Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis as runaway convicts in the Jim Crow South.

If you want to get scholarly about it, you could stretch the tradition even further, following literary critics like Leslie Fiedler and D.H. Lawrence and seeing Tony and Don as manifestations of a primal American archetype. Huck and Jim. Ishmael and Queequeg. Natty and Chingachgook — bonded cross-cultural pairs that symbolically redeem America of its original racial sin.

[Read more about the real Don Shirley .]

“Green Book,” written and directed by Peter Farrelly (of the once notoriously naughty Farrelly Brothers), is based on a true story. Tony Lip and Don Shirley were real people, and the movie grounds their journey to the South in piquant historical details. The book referenced in the title was a guide used by black motorists to help them avoid the dangers and indignities of road travel, especially below the Mason-Dixon line. Don’s record company, having booked him on a tour through several southern states, hires Tony to serve as a de facto bodyguard as well as a chauffeur.

He also becomes, inevitably, a kind of white savior, intervening to shield his employer, when he can, from white people who have no such obligation. The hypocrisies of segregation are laid out — Don is celebrated as an artist and denied service at hotels and restaurants — as are the brutal and insidious manifestations of white supremacy.

The real drama, and also the comedy, is between the two men. The contrast of their temperaments is not subtle. Don, highly accomplished and educated — he’s “Dr. Shirley” to most, “Doc” to Tony — is formal and fastidious, an aesthete and an intellectual with no patience for vulgarity or sloppiness. He’s also gay, though this fact is handled with a discretion that borders on squeamishness. Tony is a caricature of Italian-American family-man exuberance. He’s voluble and emotional and constantly smoking, eating, or both at the same time. At one point, reclining in a hotel-room bed, he folds a pizza in half and shoves it in his mouth. Not a slice of pizza. The whole pie.

His warm, earthy authenticity has a salutary effect on Don, whose hauteur masks a deep loneliness. In return, Don refines Tony’s taste and dissolves his prejudices. As I said, there’s not much here you haven’t seen before, and very little that can’t be described as crude, obvious and borderline offensive, even as it tries to be uplifting and affirmative.

And yet! There is also something about this movie that prevented me from collapsing into a permanent cringe as I watched it. Or rather, two things: the lead performances. (Linda Cardellini, as Tony’s wife, Dolores, is wonderful too, but she’s only around at the beginning and the end.) Mortensen, plump as a mortadella, doesn’t so much transcend the ethnic clichés of the role as chew through them, emerging into a zone of vaudevillian poetry. Ali, more or less the straight man in the double act, approaches every moment with a razor-fine wit, a lively awareness of the absurdity of the situation that may not belong to the character alone.

These men are good company, even if the trip itself might cause some queasiness.

Green Book Rated PG-13. Some mean white people, but they’re not all like that. Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes.

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Green Book (2018)

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Screen Rant

Green book review: driving dr. shirley.

Green Book is a delightful and inspiring story fueled by terrific performances by its leads, a sharp screenplay, and deft direction.

Green Book is a delightful and inspiring story fueled by terrific performances by its leads, a sharp screenplay, and deft direction.

Premiering at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival (where it took home the coveted 2018 People's Choice Award),  Green Book emerged as one of this year's leading and surprising Oscar contenders. The film is the latest work by director Peter Farrelly, best known as one half of the Farrelly brothers duo behind comedy hits like  Dumb and Dumber and  There's Something About Mary . Here, he makes the leap to different territory, chronicling a real-life friendship that blossomed during a tumultuous time for America. There might have been some fear that Farrelly would be out of his element, but that couldn't be further from the case.  Green Book is a delightful and inspiring story fueled by terrific performances by its leads, a sharp screenplay, and deft direction.

Green Book is set in 1962, picking up as working class Italian-American Tony "Lip" Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) finds himself needing new work after the Copacabana closes for two months due to renovations. As he looks around for a job to support his wife Dolores (Linda Cardellini) and two kids, Tony interviews for a driving position with Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali). Shirley, an African-American classical pianist, is set to tour the deep South and needs an associate to not only transport him to concert venues, but also act as security if any issues arise.

Even though the job will keep Tony away from his family for eight long weeks, the nice payday encourages him to take it. Promising Dolores he'll be home for Christmas, Tony hits the road with Dr. Shirley and the other two members of Shirley's musical trio, using the  Negro Motorist Green Book as a guide to find colored-friendly establishments at the various tour stops. Vallelonga and Shirley will have to work hard to overcome their personal differences and the injustices they'll face along the way. But it could be a very rewarding experience for both men, changing their lives for the better in more ways than one.

After its run at the festival circuit,  Green Book drew several comparisons to Best Picture winner  Driving Miss Daisy , leading some viewers to find it a bit safe and conventional in its storytelling and themes. There's no denying audiences should be able to plot out the narrative's trajectory in their heads, but that doesn't diminish the journey in the slightest. Tony Lip's son Nick Vallelonga is one of three credited co-writers (along with Farrelly and Brian Hayes Currie), which helps the film find its crucial sense of authenticity. While Nick didn't accompany his father and Shirley on the tour, the script no doubt takes inspiration from Tony's stories about his time in the South. The writing team deserves credit for blending comedy and drama, as  Green Book is never short on levity, yet still shines a spotlight on the rather serious and frustrating racial prejudices that were so prevalent in the segregation era. A number of clever callbacks and payoffs peppered throughout the script also ensure no scene goes to waste, as the film cruises through its runtime.

Farrelly specializes in gross-out humor that doesn't work for everyone, but he shows a refreshing constraint here, handling potentially sensitive subject matter with the grace and care it deserves. He tones down his usual sensibilities, with all of the comedy feeling natural and in-character. Collaborating with production designer Tim Galvin and cinematographer Sean Porter, the director also takes moviegoers straight back to the 1960s, drawing viewers in with its tone and aesthetic from the opening minutes. Farrelly definitely borrows from the Martin Scorsese playbook in places (the presence of the Copacabana will bring  Goodfellas to mind), employing a catchy soundtrack full of old school pop tunes to complement Shirley's virtuoso piano performances. But his approach doesn't come across as derivative, instead adding to the already captivating atmosphere.

For all the strong work by Farrelly and his crew, it's hard to imagine  Green Book working as well as it does without the presence of Mortensen and Ali. The two actors are a perfectly matched pair, playing off each other with great chemistry. Mortensen arguably has the showier role of the two, completely transforming into the larger-than-life figure of Tony Lip. After putting together a string of more serious-minded turns, it's nice to see the actor loosen up and have some fun as the street-wise bouncer. In a lesser thespian's hands, Tony Lip may have become a caricature, but Mortensen maintains Vallelonga's humanity throughout. Ali gives a reserved and soulful performance as Shirley, tapping into the character's inner turmoil of being a person torn between two worlds. He gives off a fittingly regal and sophisticated aura, but also has convincing dramatic outbursts to make it a well-rounded portrayal. Both leads have rightfully been in discussion for Oscar nominations and definitely deserve them.

With so much of the focus on Tony Lip and Dr. Shirley's dynamic, the supporting cast unfortunately gets lost in the background. Farrelly populates New York with other members of the Vallelonga family, and while they deliver a solid laugh or two during brief interludes in the second act, they aren't given much to work with. Even Cardellini (who makes the most of her short screen time) amounts to little more than the housewife missing her loving husband. To be fair, this is most likely a byproduct of the story's nature, rather than negligence on the part of the creative team. The crux of  Green Book's plot doesn't lend itself to being an ensemble piece, but it should be noted none of the actors are bad in their roles. They all do what's necessary, filling out the world Farrelly created. The lone exception is Dimiter D. Marinov as Oleg, a member of Shirley's trio, who has a few interactions with Tony Lip that hammer home some vital life lessons.

Green Book may not be as artistically daring or ambitious as some of 2018's other awards contenders, but it definitely lives up to the buzz and should be in the running for several major Oscars. The movie works on all fronts across the board, and its heartwarming story makes it the perfect film to catch over the Thanksgiving holiday. It could even be seen as the ideal antidote to today's divisive and trying times, depicting a touching tale of two people from wildly different backgrounds coming together and forging a lifelong bond. For cinephiles looking to keep up on the year's best as awards season heats up,  Green Book is worth seeing in theaters.

Green Book is now playing in U.S. theaters. It runs 130 minutes and is rated PG-13 for thematic content, language including racial epithets, smoking, some violence, and suggestive material.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments!

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Green Book: the true story behind the Oscar-buzzed road trip drama

In the crowd-pleasing new movie, an interracial friendship is born while navigating the deep south at a time of racial division, highlighting discrimination that still exists in much of the US

I n 19 out of 24 states for which data was available in 2015, African American motorists were more likely to be stopped by police than white drivers – three times more likely in some places. When they were pulled over, black travelers were more likely to suffer abuse in the form of taunts, harassment by dogs, gratuitous searches and more, the ACLU has documented .

Just last year, the NAACP issued a travel advisory for the entire state of Missouri, calling on African American visitors to the state and residents to “pay special attention and exercise extreme caution” owing to racist incidents. The group issued a separate advisory for American Airlines, later lifted.

The NAACP had received reports from travelers of racist verbal and physical attacks, its director of communications, Malik Russell, told the Guardian – “all type of encounters where people get the sense that they’re not being valued as an individual, as a person, as a customer.

“These advisories are examples of the distance between our nation and true freedom, true democracy.”

It used to be even worse. Beginning in the 1930s, highway travel by African Americans, like all Americans, increased – but black families had to plan for their trips in a way white families did not, by packing extra food and gasoline, and by plotting a course through relatively friendly territory. Helping them do so were specialty guidebooks listing roadside hotels, restaurants and gas stations that accommodated black travelers, the best-known of which was called The Negro Motorist Green-Book, after its compiler and publisher, the Harlem-based postal employee Victor H Green.

The Green Book (23 digitized editions are here ) has been the subject of cultural fascination for years. But it is about to hit the mainstream, with a feelgood, Oscar-tipped movie that appears on its way to being a holiday smash.

Green Book, starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, tells the story of an unlikely friendship between an Italian American driver and an African American pianist on a concert tour from New York through the deep south in 1962, one year after the Freedom Riders. They carry a Green Book in an attempt (spoiler alert: ill-fated) to stay out of trouble.

The story is based on a tour the virtuoso Don Shirley, born in Florida to Jamaican parents, undertook with a Bronx native called Tony Lip at the wheel. As family legend had it, Lip began the trip with prejudices incubated in the Italian American streets of his youth that he found scrambled when confronted by Doctor Shirley, as he was known.

The real-life characters upon which the film characters are based were extraordinary. Shirley debuted playing Tchaikovsky at age 18 with the Boston Pops in Chicago but was diverted from a classical career, he told his family and friends, by the impresario Sol Hurok, who advised him that “colored” performers had to work elsewhere. (Hurok’s influence was such that he died between lunch with Andrés Segovia and a meeting with David Rockefeller.)

Shirley’s career in classical, jazz and popular music included appearances on the world’s biggest stages, a collaboration with Duke Ellington, a turn playing Gershwin at the Metropolitan Opera in New York accompanied by the Alvin Ailey company, a Billboard Top 40 hit (Water Boy, 1961) and, later, a symphonic tone poem based on Finnegans Wake. He lived in a resplendent apartment above Carnegie Hall until his death in 2013. “His virtuosity is worthy of the gods,” Igor Stravinsky said.

Lip, born Frank Vallelonga, was a minor-league baseball player and soldier in postwar Germany who became a manager at Manhattan’s Copacabana club, where he later (post-road-trip) met Francis Ford Coppola, landed a bit part in The Godfather and parlayed his connections into an acting career that culminated with The Sopranos, in which he played the mobster Carmine Lupertazzi. He also died in 2013.

Lip’s son, Nick Vallelonga, co-wrote the Green Book script based on stories he grew up hearing from his father about the trip, which he tape-recorded, and on interviews with Shirley himself, because by then Lip and Shirley were friends. After the events depicted in the movie, in fact, the pair kept traveling together, Vallelonga told an audience in Toronto. “They went on for another year together and went to Canada too,” he said.

“My father’s a character, you can’t make him up, everything in there you saw was true,” Vallelonga said. “A lot of the words were right from his mouth when he was telling the story from when I taped him, a lot of the dialogue was right from there.”

The movie, directed by Peter Farrelly – he of seminal social critiques Dumb and Dumber and There’s Something about Mary – at one point places the heroes in a so-called sundown town, where no African American was allowed after dark, by custom or ordinance enforceable by you-don’t-want-to-find-out.

“Most often there was no formal ordinance,” said James Loewen, a sociologist and author of Sundown Towns: A hidden dimension of American racism . “Most often there was no posted sign. But in many, many cases there was a sign, and in at least some cases there was an ordinance, or people thought there was an ordinance. And if you think there’s an ordinance, then there is, to all intents and purposes.”

One historical inaccuracy in Green Book may be that it sends its pair through Pennsylvania and Indiana and into the deep south before they encounter such a place, when in fact Indiana was replete with sundown towns, Loewen said, and “Pennsylvania had maybe 700 sundown towns, maybe taking the prize for the most anywhere. It has whole river valleys that were all sundown towns.”

“We still have a long way to go,” said Russell, of the NAACP. “While we’ve traveled that distance from enslavement and Jim Crow to what people have desired as an equal playing field, there still is that distance to travel to eliminate the vestiges of racism and oppression in this country towards people of color.”

The movie presents Shirley as an activist by his decision to tour the south, and Shirley himself described his efforts to capture “the black experience”.

‘‘I am not an entertainer,” Shirley told the New York Times in 1982. “But I’m running the risk of being considered an entertainer by going into a nightclub because that’s what they have in there. I don’t want anybody to know me well enough to slap me on the back and say ‘Hey, baby.’ The black experience through music, with a sense of dignity, that’s all I have ever tried to do.’’

But critical acclaim could be elusive. In 1986 the music critic Jon Pareles dismissed a Shirley concert at Carnegie Hall as “a harmless exercise in pretty, pompous, pseudoclassical mood music”.

Today – before the movie, at least – Shirley’s fame is in eclipse. “There really hasn’t been any particular fan club,” said Nathan Kramer, who maintains a Shirley tribute site . “It’s just been a couple oddballs like us who just wanted to share things with our friends.”

Kramer saw Shirley play at a 1985 concert in Blair, Nebraska, and later corresponded with him. There was “an element of flamboyance” in Shirley’s performances, Kramer said.

“There was one time at the concert where he started the piece off – he sat way, way back from the piano. And he held up one finger. It was almost like a mime. The audience saw this one finger. And he put this one finger kind of dramatically down on the keyboard, and we listened to that one note.

“And then he built a second note. Then brought his left arm up and hit a third note, and developed this chord. And this chord turned into a little fugue. And then all of a sudden, he kept on going – and it was just like this flywheel going around and around, and somewhere in this process you realized that we were listening to Gershwin.”

Ali presents Shirley with physical flair, and the screenwriters put Shirley’s words verbatim in Ali’s mouth, including a riff about jazz piano players demeaning themselves.

They “smoke while they’re playing, and they’ll put the glass of whisky on the piano, and then they’ll get mad when they’re not respected like Arthur Rubinstein”, Ali-as-Shirley says, verbatim from a 1982 interview.

“You don’t see Arthur Rubinstein smoking and putting a glass on the piano.”

Green Book is released in the US on 16 November and in the UK on 1 February

• Mahershala Ali
• Viggo Mortensen
• Drama films
• Oscars 2019

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‘Green Book’ Movie Review: Mahershala Ali, Viggo Mortensen Have Solid Chemistry

“How does he smile and shake their hands like that?” asks Tony Lip ( Viggo Mortensen ). “Because it takes courage to change people’s hearts,” replies Oleg (Dimiter D. Marinov) as they discuss Dr. Don Shirley ( Mahershala Ali ) an extremely talented African-American musician in the early 1960s in comedy/drama, Green Book .

In 1962 New York, Tony Lip is a bouncer from an Italian-American neighborhood who needs to find work while the club where he works is closed for renovations. Tony gets a call from a representative of Dr. Don Shirley who needs a driver for an upcoming concert tour. To Tony’s surprise, Don is an African-American singer.

Don wonders if Tony he’s going to have any issues working for a black man, and Tony claims we won’t. Tony asks where the tour will be taking them and Dr. Shirley explains they’ve be traveling from Manhattan to the Deep South. Tony warns Dr. Shirley there will most likely be some trouble if he visits the Deep South. Dr. Shirley appreciates Tony’s bluntness and candor, and hires him to be his driver and bodyguard.

The unlikely pair hit the road on a journey in which they’ll be faced with racism, discrimination, threats, and danger. They come to depend upon and learn about each other, themselves, and the worlds they come from while using the “green book,” a guide to the few establishments that are safe and accept African-Americans in the 1960s.

Inspired by a true story, Green Book is a charming, funny, and touching film about two very different people from two vastly different parts of New York who, by traveling the roads together, become life-long friends and become better people because of their shared experiences.

Viggo Mortensen delivers one of his best performances as Tony Lip, a blunt, tough, Italian-American from the Bronx who only takes the job to drive Dr. Shirley to provide for his family and to stay clear of getting involved in business with the wise guys in his neighborhood. Mortensen brings humor, street smarts, and authenticity to the role, aspects of the character which may have been lost in the mix if another actor had portrayed Tony Lip.

Mahershala Ali is pitch-perfect as Dr. Don Shirley, an extremely talented, particular, cultured, and haughty musician who at first wants very little interaction with Tony on the trip but slowly starts to appreciate his straight, no-nonsense talk and take on the world. It’s the chemistry between Mortenson and Ali that elevates the film to another level.

The writing is smart, witty, and moving, revealing just how different the two men view the world and how they belong in it. The production, costumes, sets, and cars are perfect, bringing back to life America in the early ’60s.

Inspirational, moving, and enjoyable, Green Boo k is a true crowd-pleasing, highly entertaining film, and one of the best pictures of the year. It’s one of the few recent films that leaves a smile on your face after a screening.

Directed By: Peter Farrelly

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic content, language including racial epithets, smoking, some violence and suggestive material

Running Time: 2 hours 9 minutes

Release Date: November 21, 2018

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• DVD & Streaming

Content Caution

In Theaters

• November 21, 2018
• Viggo Mortensen as Tony Lip Vallelonga; Mahershala Ali as Dr. Don Shirley; Linda Cardellini as Dolores Vallelonga; Dimeter Marinov as Oleg; Mike Hatton as George; Iqbal Theba as Amit

Home Release Date

• March 12, 2019
• Peter Farrelly

Distributor

• Universal Pictures

Movie Review

The Green Book was birthed from tragic necessity.

For 30 years, The Negro Motorist Green Book guided black travelers through segregated America. In an era when many hotels and restaurants refused to serve or shelter African Americans (particularly, but not entirely, in the South), the Green Book was designed (as the book itself said) to give “the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trip more enjoyable.”

But the Green Book can’t do it alone. On the trip that Dr. Don Shirley’s planning, it’ll help to have a little muscle.

It’s 1962, and Shirley is one of the world’s most accomplished pianists. He gave his first public concert at age 3. He played with the Boston Pops at 18. He’s earned three doctorates (in music, psychology and the liturgical arts), knows eight languages and plays music like no one else.

He’s also black, about to embark on a concert tour through the Deep South.

He’s got fans down there; plenty of them. But while they’ll pay to hear him—stand and cheer for him—they won’t let him sleep in their beds or eat at their tables or use their restrooms. Tradition , they’ll say. It’s just not done , as they block the door to the bathroom and point to the outhouse out back.

Shirley knows all this, of course. He still insists on going, but he’s not naive.

So he’s bringing along a driver—a rough-hewn nightclub bouncer named Tony Vallelonga, more commonly known as Tony Lip. Shirley hires Tony at $125 a week, plus expenses. For that, Tony’s supposed to keep the car on the road, keep to the schedule and keep an eye on the Green Book . Easy enough, right?

But both know that Tony’ll be expected to keep Shirley safe, too. And Green Book or not, that won’t be easy.

Positive Elements

Shirley’s swing through the South wasn’t mandated by the record company. We learn that the pianist could make three times as much touring far more friendly confines. For him, the tour is all about challenging and changing some entrenched attitudes in these segregated states—giving people a glimpse at a wildly accomplished, impeccably erudite black man and pushing back on centuries of racism. Shirley wants to challenge those attitudes as politely, but as firmly, as he can. As his traveling cellist tells Tony, “Genius is not enough. It takes courage to change people’s hearts.”

First on the list: Tony Lip himself. And it’s not just Tony’s racial attitudes that Shirley challenges: It’s what it means to be a good, thoughtful citizen. When Tony pockets a souvenir from the parking lot of a roadside shop, Shirley insists that he pay for it or put it back. When Tony flings a paper cup out of the car window, Shirley makes him, stop, back up and retrieve the litter. Shirley encourages Tony to improve his diction, too. And while it’s unclear whether any of these suggested improvements ever take deep root in Tony’s character, he’s deeply impressed by the man who suggests them.

But change is a two-way street, and the driver winds up changing Shirley, too. Tony introduces the tightly wound piano player to the joys of off-the-bone fried chicken and encourages him to loosen up. He becomes not just a confidante and admirer, but a friend—something all too rare in Shirley’s well-heeled, solitary life. And when the tour experiences unexpected hiccups—everything from a subpar concert piano to a life-threatening clash at a bar—Tony proves to be both loyal and resourceful (though, admittedly, not all of his strategies can earn an unqualified hip, hip, hooray from Plugged In ).

A couple more notes: Shirley is reluctant to take Tony away from his wife and two sons for eight weeks, and Shirley calls his wife, Dolores, for her blessing. But, perhaps surprisingly, Tony’s bond with Dolores actually gets stronger while he’s away. Tony dutifully writes to her every chance he gets, and soon Shirley begins to help—serving as Tony’s own Cyrano de Bergerac. The letters turn poetically romantic, and back home Dolores reads them out loud to her friends and sisters-in-law—spawning a great deal of letter envy among them.

When Tony is offered a job by some local mobsters—a job Tony could use—he turns down the offer and instead pawns his watch to make ends meet.

Spiritual Elements

Tony is a profane man from a religious family—one with crosses on the walls and one that says grace before every meal. One of Shirley’s doctorates is in “liturgical studies,” which suggests at least a passing familiarity with church. (The real Don Shirley often played spirituals and Gospel songs, and he released a whole Gospel album after the events depicted in the movie.) We hear a reference to “God’s green earth,” and someone says, “God bless.”

When Tony tells Shirley that his wife bought an album of his—something about “Orphans” with little kids on the cover—Shirley corrects him. The album’s title is actually Orpheus & the Underworld , and the “children” on the cover are actually “demons in the bowels of hell.”

Sexual Content

During one tour stop, Tony’s called late at night to a local YMCA, where Shirley and another man are handcuffed to some pipes, naked or nearly so. (We don’t see anything critical, and Tony tosses a towel on Shirley before audiences see more than a split-second of his birthday suit.) We learn that Shirley and the other man were engaged in some intimate activity, according to the two police on scene. Tony bribes both officers to let Shirley go and to keep the matter quiet. Later, when Shirley apologizes for his actions that night, Tony shrugs it off. He’s been working New York City nightclubs for a long time now, he says. “I know it’s … a complicated world.”

Shirley mentions that he was married once, but that being married and being a concert pianist were ultimately incompatible.

Tony loves his wife, Dolores, and we see the two get a little frisky in bed, kissing and cuddling and laughing. But Tony can’t wait to go to Pittsburgh, because he’s heard women’s breasts grow larger there (he says, using some very crass terms). Later, he tells Shirley that Pittsburgh was consequently something of a disappointment.

Violent Content

Early in the tour, Shirley gets roughed up by a trio of locals at a bar. Tony tries to defuse the situation peacefully, but when one draws a knife and threatens to use it on Shirley, Tony reaches to his back as if grabbing for a gun. The bar’s owner then draws a shotgun and forces the locals to let Shirley go.

Tony has other violent altercations at times—including punching a policeman in the face when the racist officer insults Shirley and compares Tony’s own Italian background to being black. (Both he and Shirley are thrown in jail.) While working as a bouncer (or, as he says, in “public relations”) for a fancy New York dinner club, he tosses out someone affiliated with a prominent mobster gang and then pounds the guy’s face in. (The owner of the club, a rival mobster, soon after offers Tony a job in his syndicate doing, the boss darkly suggests, “things.” Tony turns him down.)

A concert workman fails to get Shirley a Steinway to play for one of his concerts. (And even the one he procures is filled with trash.) When Tony protests on Shirley’s behalf, the workman refuses to help—using one or two racial slurs while he’s at it—and Tony cuffs him in the ear. Later that evening, we see that Shirley got his Steinway.

Someone points and fires a gun.

Crude or Profane Language

Two f-words and about two dozen s-words. We also hear “a–,” “b–ch,” “b–tard,” “d–n,” “h—,” “t-t,” “p-ss,” “pr–k” and “crap,” along with “n—er” and other racial slurs. God’s name is paired with “d–n” nearly 15 times, and Jesus’ name is abused about five times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Shirley says that he has little regard for jazz or lounge pianists who play with a glass of whiskey on the piano. He insists it’s impossible to get respect that way.

But that doesn’t mean that Shirley doesn’t drink—and heavily—when he’s not at the piano. His concert rider requires a bottle of Cutty Sark whiskey at each stop, where he spends his evenings drinking alone. “Sometimes he gets sad,” Tony writes one day. “That’s why he drinks too much.”

Tony smokes, which sometimes drives Shirley a little crazy. We see others light up cigarettes as well. Shirley and Tony sometimes find themselves at bars or nightclubs, and we see plenty of alcohol being consumed by patrons at such establishments.

Other Negative Elements

Green Book , obviously, depicts lots of negative racial attitudes—from hostile racist rednecks to the more genteel racism of some of Shirley’s well-heeled fans. They love the idea of someone like Shirley but still don’t want him sharing their restaurants or bathrooms.

Even Tony himself doesn’t think much of blacks himself before he takes Shirley’s job—tossing away a couple of glasses that two black workmen had used instead of simply washing them. (The movie doesn’t condone any of these racist leanings, of course, but audiences still see them.)

Tony gambles with some other chauffeurs at Shirley’s first concert stop. (Shirley’s embarrassed by Tony’s gambling, but Tony’s just happy that he won.) Tony swipes a rock from a giftshop parking lot (one that clearly isn’t meant to be taken) and grouses when Shirley tries to make him put it back. He litters, too.

Black and white .

At its most basic, black and white is all about contrast. No fashion is as bold as a black-and-white dress, no interior design as brash as white carpet against black walls. When we say something is black or white , we’re telling the world that nothing could be more obvious: We have black-and-white choices, black-and-white moral convictions. Some of us are said to see the world in terms of black and white.

I wonder sometimes whether that very language invites a certain oversimplification when it comes to race.

For some—the stereotypical racists we’ve seen throughout history (and in many a movie)—the races are as separate as black type on white paper. In many places in the 1960s, predominantly in the South, the idea of racial integration seemed an impossibility. The corrosive doctrine of “separate but equal” reigned.

Most of us know better today, of course. But even now, we risk stereotyping those who are different—whether those differences are racial, economic, religious or political. We sometimes still sort those differences based on nothing more than a handful of presuppositions.

Green Book takes such racial stereotypes, balls ’em up and throws ’em out the window. Don Shirley is a genius who feels just as alienated from his own race as he does from Tony’s. And even though Tony’s skin tone is just right for the 1960s South, his ethnicity is all wrong, and he suffers some of the same slights and slings that Shirley does. Together, they lead modern audiences through a dialogue about race relations then and now, even as the characters themselves have their own racial suppositions challenged.

Green Book is engaging, funny, moving and even inspiring. It reminds us that race relations are never just black and white: The complexities and subtleties could cover a color wheel.

But for families, some of the choices the movie makes are decidedly off-color. The language, period-appropriate or not, can be pretty rough. And the movie’s decision—without any historical grounding that I can find—to send Shirley into a one-night homosexual stand gives this film another content concern to consider.

But perhaps it’s strangely fitting that we can’t give Green Book a definitive yay or nay, a definite black-or-white verdict. It, like the world it portrays, is complex and sometimes difficult. But it still has something worthwhile to say.

For more ideas on how to have the “courage to change people’s hearts” regarding bigotry and prejudice, check out the following resources:

Hope for a Racially Divided Nation

Breaking Down Racial Barriers With God’s Love (Part 1 of 2)

How to Respond When Your Kids Are Bullied

At Home With TobyMac

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A

Green solvents in battery recycle: status and challenges.

With the increasing global demand for energy and continuous destruction of the environment, the demand for sustainable green development is becoming increasingly urgent. However, the development and renewal of new-energy vehicles and various electronic devices have re- sulted in an increasing number of waste batteries. The key to the sustainable development of today’s battery industry is the efficient and green recycling of valuable waste batteries, especially metal resources. Recycling batteries cannot only halt the environmental pollution caused by batteries but also transform waste into resources for reuse. Current mainstream recycling methods, such as traditional wet metallurgy and pyrometallurgy, can cause sub- stantial environmental pollution. We systematically reviewed the recent research progress on the use of green solvents to recycle battery metal materials and summarized the char- acteristics and efficiency of each recycling process in detail to provide an effective reference for the future development of green solvents in the battery recycling industry. Finally, the prospects for developing battery technology and green solvent systems for recycling battery metal materials are discussed, and current considerations in the field of battery recycling and possibilities for each green solvent hybrid system are proposed.

• This article is part of the themed collection: Journal of Materials Chemistry A Recent Review Articles

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W. Qiao, R. Zhang, Y. Wen, X. Wang, Z. Wang, G. Tang, M. Liu, H. Kang, Z. Said, J. Hwang and C. Liu, J. Mater. Chem. A , 2024, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D3TA07905H

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