Green Book (2018) Wins Best Picture Oscar
The 2018 film “Green Book” starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali scooped up the Best Picture Oscar (my jaw dropped!) and two others at the 91st Academy Awards on February 24, 2019. The film starred Viggo Mortensen as Tony Lip and Mahershala Ali as Dr. Don Shirley.
Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Dr. Don Shirley. Nick Vallelonga (Tony Lip’s son), Brian Currie, and Peter Farrelly won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
Viggo Mortensen was nominated for Best Actor but lost to Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), which also bested “Green Book” in the film editing category.
Mahershala Ali as Dr. Don Shirley
The film is based on the true story of a road trip that piano virtuoso, Don Shirley, took through the segregated South during the 1960s. Shirley hired Frank Anthony Vallelonga aka Tony Lip to be his driver and bodyguard.
Viggo Mortensen as Tony Lip
The two men are polar opposites in personality, aside from Shirley being black and Tony Lip being white. Shirley is meticulous, fastidious and well-disciplined. Tony Lip is a glutton and thinks rules are made to be broken. Tony’s bigotry is established early in the film when his wife, Dolores, gives two black plumbers drinks and he throws the glasses in the trash can. Dolores retrieves them. Shirley has heard from more than one source that Tony Lip has “an innate ability to handle trouble” but, at first, Tony doesn’t want the job because, as he says, “I ain’t no butler. I ain’t ironing no shirts and I’m not polishing nobody’s shoes.” He sets his terms and leaves. But Shirley wants him anyway and calls Dolores to ask her if it is all right with her if he takes her husband away for two months. She says it is and the two men go off on this journey that will change them both in ways that will make you laugh and make you cry.
Oleg and George
Other performances in the film that you will appreciate:
Linda Cardinelli as Dolores Vallelonga
Dimiter D. Marinov as Oleg and Mike Hatton as George, the cello player and bass player of the Don Shirley Trio
Iqbal Theba as Amit, Don Shirley’s manservant.
I also found out that the real Tony Lip played old man Carmine Lupertazzi on “The Sopranos”. Anybody remember that episode “The Test Dream” where Carmine comes back from the dead and tells Tony he’s all alone on the other side? omg! That was such a funny episode.
Check out IMDB Trivia
Excellent critique/review, VJ! It truly was a terrific film!!!
Yay for Green Book! VJ, sounds like you got to see it this weekend?
Yes, I did, Rhonda and I loved it! I also saw the Oscars from 8 pm on, so I got to see Mahershala get his Oscar, and the scriptwriters. I really did not think it would win the Best Picture so I’m glad I didn’t turn the show off after that (because about that time I remembered that I forgot to watch Shameless and True Detective).
One line I loved was when Don Shirley told Tony Lip: “It is my feeling that your diction, however charming it may be in the tri-state area, could use some… finessing.” LOL!!
And how about the part where he made Tony put the “lucky stone” on the dashboard and said “I feel safer already.” I cracked up!
.
LOL such a great line,VJ! Viggo’s diction sounded poifect to me lol. I also loved how Dr. Shirley helped him with his letter writing to his wife.
So glad that you got to see it and loved it as I did!