Jeri
Jacquin
Currently
on Digital and coming to on 4K Ultra HD, Bluray and DVD from director Peter Farrelly
and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the story of two men and a GREEN
BOOK.
It is the
1960s and Tony 'Lip' Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) is an Italian-American in the
Bronx who works as security at the famous
Copa. When there is a problem at the club, Tony must find temporary employment
elsewhere. He receives a telephone call one morning asking if he wanted to
interview for a driving job.
Arriving
at Carnegie Hall, he waits his turn to be interviewed. That's when he meets Dr.
Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), a world class pianist who is African-American. He
learns that Dr. Shirley is planning a road trip into the deep southern states
that will take two months. As the two men talk and feel each other out, Tony is
sure that he didn't get the job.
To his
surprise, Dr. Shirley gets the okay from Tony's wife Dolores (Linda Cardellini)
for him to be gone until Christmas Eve. He also learns that because he is
driving an African-American, Tony needs to read The Negro Motorist Green Book
that will tell him when, where and the rules in the south.
Throughout
their trip, Tony and Dr. Shirley begin to learn about each other, experience
new things and discover that the deep south of the 1960s could be a place of
fear and ignorance. Both men begin to change their perspectives and perceptions
that will lead to a life long friendship based on the one word they knew that
most didn't - respect.
Mortensen
as Tony portrays this Italian-American as a man who has no problem using his
fists when push comes to shove - and it’s not Tony that starts the shoving. He
is a man of the era with a belief found in almost everyone from the
neighborhood in the Bronx . Mortensen is
absolutely stunning in this role and deserves every accolade. It is a difficult
role and his talent in portraying Tony is locked in and strongly portrayed.
He has
made his way through characters in films since I first spotted him in the 1993
film AMERICAN YAKUZA and there has been no looking back. Mortensen cemented his
career with the role of Aragorn in the LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy which has
allowed his choice of roles to range from westerns to apocalyptic in nature.
His role in GREEN BOOK is just extraordinary.
Ali as
Dr. Shirley is now an Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor for his role in
GREEN BOOK. He is a very eloquent, educated and smooth moving pianist who
believes that Tony has the potential to be even more than he is. What he
doesn't understand is that Tony likes being Tony. There are moments that Ali's
performance is just heartbreaking because of the situations they two men found
themselves in but then the joy of laughter in a bucket of KFC.
If Ali
seems familiar to you then you are obviously a fan of the hit Netflix series House of Cards but his career spans
television with the most recent series The
4400. He has continues to jump from television with the HBO hit series True Detectives and the film FREE STATE
OF JONES.
Cardellini
as Dolores is a woman who sees that her husband will do anything to provide for
his family. Worried that his beliefs would have him fired in a week, she slowly
begins to see that the friendship between the two men is forming and having an
effect on her husband Tony.
Other
cast include: Dimiter D. Marinov as Oleg, Mike Hatton as George, Joe Cortese as
Gio, Don Stark as Jules Podell, Quinn Duffy as Mikey Cerrone and Von Lewis as
Bobby Rydell.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment has just added an
amazing film to their library and making it available for us all to experience
and re-experience in our own home theatres. There are films of every genre
available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to
offer please visit www.uphe.com.
The 4K
Ultra HD, Bluray, DVD and Digital Bonus Features include Virtuoso Performances
- Go behind the scenes with Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali as they discuss
their characters and the lengths they went to accurately portray them, An
Unforgettable Friendship - Cast and filmmakers discuss the friendship between
Don Shirley and Tony Lip and Going Beyond the GREEN BOOK - Filmmakers and cast
discuss the significance of the GREEN BOOK.
Movies
Anywhere is the digital app that simplifies and enhances the digital movie
collection and viewing experience by allowing you to access favorite digital
movies in one place when codes are redeemed. For more information please
visit http://moviesanywhere.com.
GREEN
BOOK turns out to be the surprise win at the 2019 Academy Awards but then again
it shouldn’t be a surprise at all. It is a story of true friendship and the
lessons each learn along their two month road trip. From bars to police to
hotels and even the unexpected reactions to driving Dr. Shirley - each
situation that presents itself causes both men to have to remain calm.
I was
absolutely mesmerized by Mortensen and Ali together on the screen. They played
off of each other to the point that I forgot who I was watching because the
story captured me. Not being afraid to tackle the issues of the
south in the 1960s, it also tackles the belief of those living in the northern
states who perhaps didn't believe they had issues at the time.
As both
characters start to open up more and more, it doesn't surprise me that the
friendship of Dr. Shirley and Tony lasted a lifetime. The two months they spent
together brought surprises, life lessons, humor, understanding, secrets and
music.
The Bonus
Features are absolutely worth watching to get a deeper look inside this
friendship from the two men portraying Dr. Shirley and Tony. The heartfelt
interviews just give GREEN BOOK am even deeper reason for us all to watch the
film.
Not only
winning an Oscar for Best Picture, Ali won a Golden Globe for Best Supporting
Actor and a nomination for Viggo Mortensen along with Best Picture and Best
Screenplay. GREEN BOOK is everything I want in a film that tells the true story
of two unexpected men who became brothers.
In the
end - inspired by a true friendship!
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