Member review

Green Book is a fascinating film about the journey that Tony Vallelonga and Dr. Donald Shirley take across America, from New York through the deep south in the 1960s. Green Book takes you through all the emotions whether it’s disgust at the way people treat the colored Dr. Shirley or happiness at the touching friendship that Dr. Shirley and Tony develop throughout the film.

The acting in this film is phenomenal and really portrays what is the true story of a beautiful friendship between Tony and Dr. Shirley. Mahershala Ali really did deserve the best-supporting actor award at the Academy Awards (the Oscars) for his role as Dr. Shirley, this was his second win for the same award, his first was for Moonlight which I also highly recommend.

Tony changes so much throughout this film, especially his attitude towards black people. He never called anyone a nig**r (in the time this was set this word was in common use and caused far less offense), nor did he commit any hate crime but was more subtle in his way of racism. At the beginning of the film, he threw away two perfectly good cups that two black men drank out of. Even though Tony is Italian American, spending so much time with Dr. Shirley, he starts to see life through the eyes of a black man in the early 60s. At the end of the film, he welcomes the black Dr. Shirley into his home like he was one of his family. This single act illustrates how much Tony's views about black people have changed through the film.

Green Book has easily made its way into my top five films and I think it will stay there for a long time. On the surface, Green Book is a film about a journey through America but when you watch this masterpiece of a film it’s much more than this, the film is more about the journey of character and the journey of the characters’ attitudes towards each other. The story is all the more powerful because we know that this is a real friendship, and this is a true story.