{"id":11265,"date":"2019-02-02T05:32:13","date_gmt":"2019-02-02T05:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/?p=11265"},"modified":"2019-02-10T21:55:48","modified_gmt":"2019-02-10T21:55:48","slug":"green-book-must-see-comedy-drama-lesson-on-history-and-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/2019\/02\/02\/green-book-must-see-comedy-drama-lesson-on-history-and-humanity\/","title":{"rendered":"GREEN BOOK – MUST SEE COMEDY-DRAMA LESSON ON HISTORY AND HUMANITY"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUDIO PODCAST OPTION OF GREEN BOOK<\/em> REVIEW<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SHORT TAKE:<\/p>\n

Excellent buddy dramedy based closely on the real life friendship between a black gifted but haughty pianist and the\u00a0thuggish but fundamentally noble white bouncer he hires to chauffeur him during a concert tour through\u00a0the Deep South in the 1960’s.<\/p>\n

WHO SHOULD GO:<\/p>\n

Any mature mid-teen and up but with parental discretion due to language, the examination of extreme racism during this time period\u00a0and some conversation topics.<\/p>\n

LONG TAKE:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Green Book<\/em> is one of the most delightfully charming movies I’ve seen in a long time. The story is about a New York Copacabana bouncer, Tony Vallelonga, conventionally bigoted for the 1960s, hired as the driver for a brilliant black pianist, Dr. Donald Shirley,\u00a0for a concert tour through the Deep South.<\/p>\n

Based on a true story, Tony Vallelonga was already a part of\u00a0Hollywood. The real Vallelonga appeared in movies like Goodfellas<\/em>. His son, Nick, wrote and helped produce this movie based upon interviews with\u00a0him and\u00a0Dr. Shirley about this road trip\u00a0taken when Nick was a little boy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The title refers to the name of the catalogue the men use as a guide for the places that black people were allowed to go – the hotels, vacation spots, tourist areas, bars, and gas stations\u00a0where black people could stay without fear of harassment from\u00a0regional authorities and punitive local ordinances. The title comes from its author, Victor Hugo Green, a New York postman and\u00a0a black man. The book was published yearly from 1936\u00a0until 1966, when Civil Rights Law made it, thankfully, obsolete.<\/p>\n

The unlikely pair\u00a0are wonderful to watch. \"\"<\/a>An entire play could have been made just out of their time in the car together as they exchange observations of the world from their own unique perspectives. Tony is white, tough, with a mediocre education,\u00a0naive in his own way, and world-wise in others, who lives in a\u00a0simple small\u00a0house with his devoted wife and two boys,\u00a0 living somewhat hand to mouth, between jobs, even willing to engage in a hot dog eating contest for an extra $50 towards the soon-to-be due rent. \"\"<\/a>Shirley also grew up poor, but after being recognized for his gifted playing has become an\u00a0effete, sheltered, black man\u00a0residing in an artfully appointed apartment literally above Carnegie Hall. He\u00a0distances himself from\u00a0his black heritage in particular and\u00a0most people in general. Both have much to teach the other.<\/p>\n

We get a tour of 1960’s Americana, from the gift stands at the local gas stations to the tough bars, and the “coloreds only” seedy hotels to which\u00a0Dr. Shirley is relegated because of the color of his skin.<\/p>\n

The acting is Oscar-worthy. \"\"<\/a>Mortensen, stepping, chameleon-like into the skin of this gruff and uneducated but likeable and protective bodyguard, is almost unrecognizable in physique, mannerisms or even speech patterns from such previous\u00a0characters as\u00a0\"\"<\/a>the\u00a0seduced professor Halder from Good<\/em> or \"\"<\/a>the incorruptible hero Aragorn from Lord of the Rings<\/em>. Along with the accent, the body movements and facial expressions of Vallelonga, which surviving son Nick claimed were so accurate they brought him to tears, Mortensen gained 45 pounds to get into character. Mortensen’s Vallelonga is a three-dimensional character from moment one on the screen throughout. Brutal and thoughtful, principled and amoral, loving father, devoted faithful husband, and violent bouncer, \"\"<\/a>Mortensen\u00a0creates a completely recognizable person from characteristics which could have lent themselves to a cliched caricature.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mahershala Ali (small parts in Hidden Figures<\/em> and Hunger Games<\/em>) does an excellent job of portraying the stiff and defensive Shirley while incorporating the subtle chinks in his armor through which the unassuming Vallelonga connects.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>His Shirley is\u00a0sensitive and\u00a0subtle with a tough core of dignity, principle, and determined courage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Linda Cardellini (Daddy’s Home<\/em>)\u00a0is lovely as Tony’s devoted wife, Dolores. In real life the Vallelongas were happily married for 41 years until her death in 1999.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In addition there is the fantastic music, and delightful songs played in classical mode by Dr. Shirley.\u00a0The background soundtrack was\u00a0written by \"\"<\/a>Karol Bowers whose hands, through the miracle of CGI,\u00a0physically sub for the gifted Dr. Shirley piano performances. \"\"<\/a>Much effort went into blending Ali’s physical performance with Bowers piano playing prowess and it works very convincingly.<\/p>\n

Peter Farrelly, whose credits up until now mostly amounted to questionable\u00a0 movies\u00a0such as\u00a0Three Stooges, Movie 43<\/em> and Shallow Hal,<\/em> has really found his inspiration in this script.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>Green Book\u00a0<\/em>is masterfully crafted – balancing the natural humor that comes from\u00a0people simply interacting with each other against the tragic drama of abuse, condescension and indignities\u00a0which black people endured all over the country during the 1960’s. Every detail is complete and period – from the gas station gift stands full of\u00a0trinkets to the chandeliered restaurants and the\u00a0florid night clubs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>By all accounts the script details both their trip and their characters very accurately, coalescing experiences described in interviews with both Vallelonga and Shirley. The only liberty taken was that the road trip lasted, not two months, but a year and a half! While taken directly and in detail from real life, the story still serves as an allegory. Vallelonga is an\u00a0 example of the transformation America was making from the caricature perceptions of minorities to the informed friendships and respect which would soon be crafted,\u00a0blossom and become commonplace all over the country.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Historically educational, were it not for the rough language, admittedly appropriate to the characters, their occupations, times and places, and one scene depicting a massive character flaw of Shirley, this movie would be\u00a0family-appropriate. As it is, while I very highly recommend this movie,\u00a0it is only for midteens and up and even then only upon the\u00a0discretion of a pre-informed parent. The language is not confined to profanity, but is littered with historically accurate racial epithets often casually included in conversation.<\/p>\n

This is a movie both men should be very proud of having made. It touches on very sensitive racial issues from the ’60’s but does so with politically incorrect good natured humor, an acknowledgement of the past with both its virtues and its mistakes, and attention to detail in authenticity which would have made any history professor proud.<\/p>\n

With its slice of the past, the inspirational character learning curves, the marvelous music, and the splendid performances, time going to see Green Book<\/em> is time well spent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AUDIO PODCAST OPTION OF GREEN BOOK REVIEW   SHORT TAKE: Excellent buddy dramedy based closely on the real life friendship between a black gifted but haughty pianist and the\u00a0thuggish but fundamentally noble white bouncer he hires to chauffeur him during a concert tour through\u00a0the Deep South in the 1960’s. WHO SHOULD GO: Any mature mid-teen … Continue reading GREEN BOOK – MUST SEE COMEDY-DRAMA LESSON ON HISTORY AND HUMANITY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[2647,639,557,995,2653,2645,2650,2639,2641,2648,2655,2646,2651,2642,2638,2636,455,2649,2424,53,2633,243,610,2656,2654,2635,2644,2652,2718,2640,551,1570,2637,440,2719,2643,2634],"class_list":["post-11265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-1960s","tag-audio","tag-bigotry","tag-black","tag-bodyguard","tag-bouncer","tag-civil-rights","tag-colored","tag-colored-people","tag-colored-only","tag-concert-tour","tag-copacabana","tag-curfew","tag-don-shirley","tag-epithets","tag-green-book","tag-history","tag-jim-crow-laws","tag-linda-cardellini","tag-lord-of-the-rings","tag-mahersala-ali","tag-movie-review","tag-music","tag-negro","tag-new-york","tag-peter-farrelly","tag-pianist","tag-piano","tag-podcast","tag-politically-incorrect","tag-prejudice","tag-profanity","tag-racial-tension","tag-racism","tag-recording","tag-vallelonga","tag-viggo-mortensen"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/chauffeur.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6mhKV-2VH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11265"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11465,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11265\/revisions\/11465"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.homeschoolmommoviemavin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}