Every year, there’s a single film that catches me by surprise. Last year, it was Julia DuCournau’s Raw, a blood-curdling coming of age horror; the year before it was Arrival, a fantastically cerebral sci-fi flick; before that it was Green Room, a terrifying slasher-thriller about a band under siege by a group of neo-Nazis. This year however, nothing has caught me quite as off guard as Peter Farrelly’s Green Book. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting going into this (though from the director of Dumb and Dumber, probably not a lot), but Green Book turns out to be a hilarious, heartwarming, based-on-a-true-story buddy comedy that examines the deep-rooted racism of America’s Deep South, and the power of music to bring people together.

Our leads are played excellently by Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings) and Mahershala Ali (Moonlight). Mortensen plays newly unemployed bouncer Tony Vallelonga, who is employed by Ali’s Dr Don Shirley as chauffeur/assistant on his concert tour of the Deep South. Mortensen and Ali are each perfectly suited to their roles. Tony is a brash Italian-American fellow who is very set in his ways – he is not actively racist in the same way so many other characters are. He is merely a product of the system, and this system is put to the test over the course of the film. He’s surprisingly tender in places too, showing that his personal prejudices don’t run as deep as we may expect; as the tour progresses, his number one priority quickly becomes maintaining Shirley’s safety. Ali plays Shirley in a fascinating way; he is an enigma, both to us, to Tony, and indeed to himself. His skin colour automatically sets him apart from white folk, but his riches also cut him out of his own black culture. He’s left in the void, not quite belonging to either race, and it is here that his struggle lies – he’s employed to play concerts by affluent white people, but as soon as he steps away from his piano, he becomes just another black man in their eyes. It is an extremely intriguing balance that makes your skin crawl as much as it inspires our curiosity.

Throughout the whole film, ideas of racism are extremely well handled. Where films such as 12 Years a Slave examined the real horrors of extreme racism in slavery-era America, Green Book chooses to look more at the racial divide itself. Through the character of Shirley, the film delves into the perceived boundaries between black and white people, and how potential crossovers between them are treated. Shirley’s riches have meant that he is able to experience much more of a ‘life’ than almost any other black person we see; a particularly striking sequence at around the halfway point juxtaposes Shirley’s affluence with black farm workers. While it isn’t exactly subtle, it does highlight both the divide between them, and Shirley’s own sense of disloyalty in himself. That isn’t to say that the notoriously horrific racism of the Deep South is shied away from; the film’s 12A rating gives it less freedom than other films that may deal with similar subject matter, but that does not mean it feels any less real. Shirley is threatened, mistreated, assaulted multiple times over the course of the film, pushing him further and further to his breaking point. This also means that Tony has to put his own prejudices aside as the bond between them grows stronger, allowing for some fascinating character development as the two men start to break down their boundaries and stereotypes between and about others.

Something also worth mentioning is that Green Book is laugh-out-loud hilarious – to a surprising degree, given its subject matter. Mortensen and Ali elevate an already funny script with their superb delivery, easygoing chemistry, and fantastic facial expressions. The way the pair bounce and play off each other is wonderful – it is at once a completely believable relationship, not just because of the individual acting of each powerhouse, but because of the way they gel perfectly as a unit. Each has much to learn from the other, because of their respective worlds and outlooks. This is evident from the first time we meet each of them; we open in the Copacabana nightclub at which Tony is a bouncer, forced to eject some rowdy patrons. He’s street-smart and down to earth, and not afraid to get his hands dirty. Shirley, on the other hand, is not. When we’re introduced to him in his apartment above a concert hall, it is plain to see how outlandish his lifestyle is, especially in comparison to Tony: he has a pair of elephant tusks sitting on a table, as well as hundreds of other worldwide artefacts strewn across the lounge, and he sits on a throne, which in turn sits on an elevated area of floor. The two are almost polar opposites of each other, and with this in mind it seems remarkable to say that the film’s funniest scene is one where Tony introduces Shirley to KFC – it reminded me of the scene in Brooklyn Nine-Nine where Captain Holt tries a marshmallow, but funnier. Shirley’s wonder and bemusement at the fried chicken is magnificent, and is made all the more hilarious by Tony’s throwing used bones out of the window, which Shirley reluctantly goes along with, until Tony throws a drinks cup onto the road – Ali’s split-second change in facial expression here, turns the fun sequence into one of hilarity, and it is in scenes like this that the film’s greatest strengths lie: it is so, incredibly human.

Green Book is a marvel to watch; it feels as though we’re watching a genuine snapshot from 1960’s America. Everything about it feels so unbelievably real, whether it’s the wonderfully enjoyable characters, the gorgeous set design, the incredible acting, the beautiful score from Kris Bowers, or Flannery’s subtle direction – everything lends the film a fantastic sense of authenticity (despite various disputes over the film’s interpretation of Shirley’s relationships with his family). Everything present imbues the film with such a wonderful sense of humanity – in its more emotional scenes there is such a weight of realism to the film, and in its comedic ones there is an almost ethereal feeling of enjoyment: it is this that truly makes Green Book something special.

Verdict:

At one glance, a hilarious road trip comedy and in another, an uncomfortably real insight into America’s racial roots, Green Book is utterly magnificent. Striking a perfect balance between funny and emotional, and thanks to its masterful leading duo, it is an absolute joy from start to finish.

Rating: 

9/10