GREEN BOOK

Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen bring lyrical chemistry to this untold story about an unlikely real-life friendship.

Bafta-winning Ali plays the world-class African-American pianist Dr. Don Shirley, who is about to embark on a tour from Manhattan to the Deep South in the early 1960s. Dr. Shirley needs a driver (and protector) and is recommended the tough-talking, Italian-American bouncer, Tony Lip (Mortensen). Shirley must rely upon the ‘Green Book’, the real guidebook on which the film is named, to find motels and restaurants that will accept African-American travellers. The further south they go, the more they are confronted not only by racism and danger, but also their own differences.

For the role, Mortensen put on 20 pounds by eating a diet of pasta and pizza, and never refusing more than one dessert, and it seems to have paid off with his performance gaining plenty of Best Actor noms. But it’s Mahershala’s virtuoso performance which elevates this charming buddy-movie.

Nominated for five Oscars, and winning several more accolades at the recent Baftas and Golden Globes, Green Book is at once hilarious and deeply moving.