Green Book (film)
Green Book | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Peter Farrelly |
Produced by |
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Written by |
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Starring | |
Music by | Kris Bowers |
Cinematography | Sean Porter |
Edited by | Patrick J. Don Vito |
Production company |
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Distributed by | Universal Pictures[1] |
Release date |
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Running time | 130 minutes[2] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $23 million[3] |
Box office | $47.2 million[4] |
Green Book is a 2018 American comedy-drama film. Set in the Deep South in the 1960s, it follows a tour between African-American classical and jazz pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen),[5] an Italian-American bouncer who served as Shirley's driver and bodyguard.
Directed by Peter Farrelly, the film was written by Farrelly, Brian Currie and Vallelonga's son, Nick Vallelonga, based on interviews with his father and Shirley, as well as letters his father wrote to his mother.[6] The film is named after The Negro Motorist Green Book, a mid-20th century guidebook for African-American travelers written by Victor Hugo Green, to help them find motels and restaurants that would accept them.
Green Book had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2018, where it won the People's Choice Award.[7] It was then theatrically released in the United States on November 16, 2018, by Universal Pictures.[8] The film received positive reviews from critics, with Mortensen and Ali's performances being lauded, although it drew some criticism for its perceived historical inaccuracies. It won the National Board of Review award of best film of 2018, and was also chosen as one of the Top 10 by the American Film Institute, and also received numerous award nominations, including winning the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture and Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.[9][10] The film also received five nominations at the 91st Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Mortensen), Best Supporting Actor (Ali), Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing.
Contents
Plot[edit]
New York City bouncer Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga is searching for new employment after the nightclub he works at is closed for renovations. He is invited to an interview with "Doc" Don Shirley, a black pianist who is looking for a driver for his eight-week concert tour through the Deep South. Don hires Tony on the strength of his references. They embark with plans to return to New York on Christmas Eve. Tony is given a copy of the Green Book by Don's record studio: a guide for black travelers to find motels, restaurants, and filling stations that would serve blacks.[11]
They begin the tour in the Midwest before eventually heading further south. Tony and Don initially clash; as Tony feels uncomfortable being asked to act with more refinement, while Don is disgusted by Tony's habits. As the tour progresses, Tony is impressed with Don's talent on the piano, and increasingly appalled by the discriminatory treatment the latter receives by their hosts and the general public when he is not on stage. A group of white men threaten Don's life in a bar and Tony rescues him. He instructs Don not to go out without him for the rest of the tour.
Throughout the journey, Don helps Tony write letters to his wife, which deeply move her. Tony encourages Don to get in touch with his own estranged brother, but Don is hesitant, observing that he has become isolated by his professional life and achievements.
Don is found in a gay encounter with a white man at a YMCA pool and Tony bribes the officers to prevent the musician's arrest. Don is upset that Tony "rewarded" the officers for their treatment. Later, the two are arrested after a police officer pulls them over late at night in a sundown town and Tony punches him after being insulted. While they are incarcerated, Don asks to call his "lawyer", and uses the opportunity to reach Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who orders the governor to release them. Tony is amazed by the experience, while Don is humiliated. This leads to an argument where Tony angrily considers himself "blacker" than Don. Having reached his breaking point, Don laments to Tony that his affluence prevents him from identifying with people of his race while his race prevents him from being accepted by other white people, making him feel truly alone in the world.
On the night of the final performance on tour in Birmingham, Alabama, Don is refused entry into the whites-only dining room of the hotel venue. Tony threatens the owner, and Don refuses to play since they refuse to serve him in the room with his audience. He and Tony then go to a predominantly black blues club where Don rouses the crowd with his music. Tony and Don head back north late at night in a snowstorm to try to make it home by Christmas Eve. Don takes over driving duty when Tony gets too tired, and they make it in time for Tony's family dinner, to which he invites Don. The latter returns to his apartment, but ends up going to Tony's, where he is welcomed by all after a brief silence.
Cast[edit]
- Viggo Mortensen as Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga
- Mahershala Ali as "Doc" Don Shirley
- Linda Cardellini as Dolores Vallelonga
- Dimitar Marinov as Oleg
- Mike Hatton as George
- Iqbal Theba as Amit
- Sebastian Maniscalco as Johnny Venere
- P.J. Byrne as Record Executive Producer
- Montrel Miller as Birmingham Hotel Waiter
- Tom Virtue as Morgan Anderson
- Dennis W. Hall as Wise Guy Mags
- Randal Gonzalez as Gorman
- Maggie Nixon as Coat Check Girl
- Brian Distance as Macon Cop #2
Production[edit]
Viggo Mortensen began negotiations to star in the film in May 2017, and put on 40–50 pounds for the role.[3] Peter Farrelly was set to direct, from a screenplay written by Nick Vallelonga (Tony Lip's son), Brian Currie, and himself.[12]
On November 30, 2017, the lead cast was set, with Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini and Iqbal Theba confirmed to star. Production began that week in New Orleans.[13][14][15] Sebastian Maniscalco was announced as part of the cast in January 2018.[16] Score composer Kris Bowers also taught Ali basic piano skills and was the stand in when some close ups of hands playing were required.[17]
Release[edit]
Green Book began a limited release in the United States, in 20 cities, on November 16, 2018, and expanded wide on November 21, 2018. The film was previously scheduled to begin its release on the 21st.[18]
The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2018.[19] It also opened the 29th New Orleans Film Festival on October 17, 2018, screened at AFI Fest on November 9, 2018[20] and was programmed as the surprise film at the BFI London Film Festival.[21]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
As of January 22, 2019[update], Green Book has grossed $42.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $4.3 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $47.2 million, against a production budget of $23 million.[4]
The film made $312,000 from 25 theaters in its opening weekend, an average of $12,480 per venue, which Deadline Hollywood called "not good at all", although TheWrap said it was a "successful start," and noted strong word-of-mouth would likely help it going into its wide release.[22][23] The film had its wide expansion alongside the openings of Ralph Breaks the Internet, Robin Hood and Creed II, and was projected to gross around $7–9 million over the five-day weekend, November 21 to November 25.[24] It made $908,000 on its first day of wide release and $1 million on its second. It grossed $5.4 million over the three-day weekend (and $7.4 million over the five), finishing ninth. Deadline wrote that the opening was "far from where [it needed] to be to be considered a success," and that strong audience word of mouth and impending award nominations would be needed in order to help the film develop box office legs. Rival studios argued that Universal went too wide too fast (going from 25 theaters to 1,063 in less than a week).[25]
In its second weekend the film made $3.9 million, falling just 29% and leading some industry insiders to think the film could leg out to $50 million during awards season.[26] In its third weekend of wide release, following its Golden Globe nominations, it dropped 0% and again made $3.9 million, then made $2.8 million the following weekend.[27][28] In its eighth weekend, the film made $1.8 million (continuing to hold well, dropping just 3% from the previous week).[29] It then made $2.1 million in its ninth weekend (up 18%) and $2.1 million in its 10th.[30]
Critical response[edit]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 224 reviews, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Green Book takes audiences on a surprisingly smooth ride through potentially bumpy subject matter, fueled by Peter Farrelly's deft touch and a pair of well-matched leads."[31] on Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 46 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[32] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 85% positive score and an 80% "definite recommend".[25][26]
Writing for The San Francisco Chronicle, Mick LaSalle praised Ali and Mortensen and said: "...there's something so deeply right about this movie, so true to the time depicted and so welcome in this moment; so light in its touch, so properly respectful of its characters, and so big in its spirit, that the movie acquires a glow. It achieves that glow slowly, but by the middle and certainly by the end, it's there, the sense of something magical happening, on screen and within the audience."[33] Steve Pond of TheWrap wrote, "The movie gets darker as the journey goes further South, and as the myriad indignities and humiliations mount. But our investment in the characters rarely flags, thanks to Mortensen and Ali and a director who is interested in cleanly and efficiently delivering a story worth hearing."[34]
Accolades[edit]
The film has received numerous award nominations. In addition to winning the People's Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2018, [7] Green Book was nominated for 5 Golden Globe awards for the 76th annual ceremony, including winning the 2018 Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The National Board of Review awarded it the award of Best Film, and it was also recognized as one of the Top 10 films of the year by the American Film Institute.
Controversies[edit]
On November 7, 2018, during a promotional panel discussion, Mortensen said the word "nigger". He prefaced the sentence with, "I don't like saying this word", and went on to compare dialogue "that's no longer common in conversation" to the period in which the film is set. Mortensen apologized the next day, saying that "my intention was to speak strongly against racism" and that he was "very sorry that I did use the full word last night, and will not utter it again."[35]
Shirley's relatives condemned the film, stating they were not contacted by studio representatives until after development, and that it misrepresented Shirley's relationship with his family. Don's brother, Maurice Shirley, said "My brother never considered Tony to be his 'friend'; he was an employee, his chauffeur (who resented wearing a uniform and cap). This is why context and nuance are so important. The fact that a successful, well-to-do Black artist would employ domestics that did NOT look like him, should not be lost in translation."[36]
Mahershala Ali responded with an apology to Shirley’s nephew, Edwin Shirley III, saying that "I did the best I could with the material I had" and that he was not aware that there were "close relatives with whom I could have consulted to add some nuance to the character."[37] Writer-director Peter Farrelly said he was under the impression there "weren't a lot of family members" still alive, that they did not take major liberties with the story, and that relatives he was aware of had been invited to a private screening for friends and family.[37] Jazz artist Quincy Jones said to a crowd after a screening: "I had the pleasure of being acquainted with Don Shirley while I was working as an arranger in New York in the '50s, and he was without question one of America's greatest pianists ... as skilled a musician as Leonard Bernstein or Van Cliburn ... So it is wonderful that his story is finally being told and celebrated. Mahershala, you did an absolutely fantastic job playing him, and I think yours and Viggo's performances will go down as one of the great friendships captured on film."[38] on January 14, 2019, NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar published a piece in The Hollywood Reporter defending Green Book despite its alleged historical inaccuracies.[39] Abdul-Jabbar argued that "[w]hile such discrepancies [about the historicity of some of the depicted events] may irk family members, they don't really matter because those plot details are about getting to a greater truth than whatever the mundane facts are."[39]
Monique Judge, a columnist for The Root, stated the film was historically inaccurate in its portrayal of the Jim Crow south. She said that the film "is definitely problematic" and fails to reflect "just how bad it was for blacks who traveled through and lived there." She said the film fails to convey the "gripping fear that black people feel even today whenever they drive down those dark country roads at night—let alone in 1962, when the film is set."[36]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Debruge, Peter (September 11, 2018). "Film Review: 'Green Book'". Variety. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
- ^ "Green Book". Toronto International Film Festival. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Tatiana Siegel (November 13, 2018). "Making of 'Green Book': A Farrelly Brother Drops the Grossout Jokes for a Dramatic Road Trip in the 1960s Deep South". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Green Book (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
- ^ Jess Fenton (30 December 2018). "SWITCH. | Film review: Green Book - An unexpected gem for 'Dumb & Dumber' director". SWITCH. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
- ^ Diamond, Anna (December 2018). "The True Story of the 'Green Book' Movie". Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "TIFF 2018 Awards: ‘Green Book’ Wins the People’s Choice Award, Upsetting ‘A Star Is Born’". IndieWire, September 16, 2018.
- ^ McNary, Dave. "Viggo Mortensen-Mahershala Ali's 'Green Book' Set for Awards Season Release". Variety. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
- ^ "Mahershala Ali wins Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe for 'Green Book'". EW.com. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
- ^ "Mahershala Ali Wins First Golden Globe for 'Green Book'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
- ^ "NYPL Digital Library". book. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
- ^ Kroll, Justin (May 31, 2017). "Viggo Mortensen Circling Peter Farrelly's Next Film 'Green Book' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ Sneider, Jeff (November 30, 2017). "Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali To Star In Peter Farrelly's ROAD Trip Drama "Green Book"". Tracking Board. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ Scott, Mike (October 31, 2017). "Movie inspired by 'The Negro Motorist Green Book' to film in New Orleans". Nola. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ N'Duka, Amanda (November 30, 2017). "Iqbal Theba Joins 'Green Book'; Michael Beach Cast In 'Foster Boy'; Peter Strauss Boards 'Operation Finale'". Deadline. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ Galuppo, Mia (January 16, 2018). "Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco Joins Viggo Mortensen in Drama 'Green Book' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
- ^ O'Connell, Sean J. (February 2019). "Bowers Explores Shirley's Work for 'Green Book' Film". DownBeat. Vol. 86 no. 2. p. 23.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 31, 2018). "'Green Book' Going Earlier In Limited Release Off Awards Season Heat". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- ^ Kay, Jeremy (August 14, 2018). "Toronto unveils Contemporary World Cinema, more Galas and Special Presentations". Screen International. Retrieved August 14, 2018.
- ^ Hammond, Pete (October 11, 2018). "AFI Fest Adds Gala Screenings 'Green Book', 'Widows', World Premiere Of Netflix's 'Bird Box' With Sandra Bullock and 'The Kominsky Method' TV Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ^ "Green Book – Watch New Clip". Filmoria.co.uk. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 18, 2018). "'Crimes Of Grindelwald' Falls Short Stateside With $62M+ Debut, WB Celebrates Global Win As 'Fantastic Beasts' Series Hits $1B-Plus". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ Fuster, Jeremy (November 18, 2018). "'Green Book' Has Successful Start at Indie Box Office Before Wide Release". TheWrap. Retrieved November 18, 2018.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 1, 2018). "Ralph Breaks The Internet' Tracking To $65M; 'Creed II' Eyeing $48M, 'Robin Hood' $17M In Thanksgiving B.O. Showdown". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (November 25, 2018). "'Ralph' Breaking The B.O. With $18.5M Weds., Potential Record $95M Five-Day; 'Creed II' Pumping $11.6M Opening Day, $61M Five-Day". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 2, 2018). "'Ralph' Breaking $25M+ 2nd Weekend; 'Grinch' Steals $202M+; 'Hannah Grace' $6M+ In Slow Post Thanksgiving Period – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 9, 2018). "'Ralph' Keeps No. 1 Away From Greedy 'Grinch' For Third Weekend In A Row With $16M+ – Sunday Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (December 16, 2018). "'Spider-Verse' Raises $35M+ As 'The Mule' Kicks Up $17M+ In Pre-Christmas Period, But 'Mortal Engines' Breaks Down With $7M+". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 6, 2018). "'Aquaman' Still The Big Man At The B.O. With $30M+; 'Escape Room' Packs In $17M+ – Early Sunday Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
- ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 20, 2018). "'Glass' Now Looking At Third-Best MLK Weekend Opening With $47M+". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ "Green Book (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
- ^ "Green Book reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
- ^ LaSalle, Mike (November 14, 2018). "Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali achieve screen magic in 'Green Book'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
- ^ Pond, Steve (November 14, 2018). "'Green Book' Film Review: Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali Take a Perilous Road Trip Through the Deep South". TheWrap. Retrieved November 22, 2018.
- ^ "Viggo Mortensen Apologizes for Using N-Word at 'Green Book' Panel". Variety. November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Family of Black Man, Don Shirley, Portrayed in 'The Green Book' Blasts Movie and Its 'Lies'". Black Enterprise. November 29, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Mahershala Ali Apologized to His Green Book Character's Family After Controversy". Vulture. December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- ^ "Notes on The Season: Quincy Jones Loves 'Green Book'". Deadline Hollywood. December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem (January 14, 2019). "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Why the 'Green Book' Controversies Don't Matter". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 15, 2019.
External links[edit]
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