BEFORE: See, I told you that I'd circle back to Mahershala Ali, for the other film that he won the Best Supporting Oscar for. I watched "Moonlight" almost two weeks ago, so look at all the extra films I was able to fit in between! Keeping track of all the credits from hundreds of films is a huge job, but knowing when NOT to watch all the movies with a certain actor in them, and saving one for a crucial linking opportunity later on is something of an art form. I just have to look at the big picture, and realize that not every connection needs to be made, I've learned to ignore some of them because they don't take me exactly where I want to go, or in some cases, they get me there TOO soon, and I feel like I'm not supposed to be THERE yet. Having holidays or key release dates for the current year gives me something akin to a road map, telling me where I have to be on certain dates of the year - much, like, say, the itinerary of a traveling musician on a multi-city tour.
But there's a film running on cable now, called "The Glass Castle", and I've realized too late that it stars both Naomi Watts and a couple of the kids from "Captain Fantastic", so it could have easily fit into my chain - and it's also about some form of alternative parenting. But then if I included that one I guess my count would be off again, and I wouldn't hit Mother's Day properly without cutting something else, so perhaps it's for the best. I'll have to circle back around to that one somehow.
Viggo Mortensen carries over again from "Captain Fantastic". An Oscar winner takes precedence over a film that wasn't even nominated for anything...
THE PLOT: A working-class Italian-American bouncer becomes the driver of an African-American classical pianist on a tour of venues through the 1960s American South.
AFTER: This is the film that drove Spike Lee crazy when it won the Best Picture Oscar a couple of months ago - Spike described this film as little more than an updated "Driving Miss Daisy", with the roles reversed. But I think that description really belittles this film, it sells the intent hear VERY short. From Mr. Lee's point of view, one might draw the conclusion that very little progress has been made since "Driving Miss Daisy" was awarded the Best Picture Oscar for 1989.
But the key thing to remember here is that the roles ARE reversed. No matter how you slice it, that's progress, right? The black character is BEING driven around, and the white character is the driver. Instead of focusing on the perceived lack of progress, why not celebrate the fact that some progress has been made? What does Spike want, a story where the black character owns a fleet of limousines, or all of the concert venues? That wouldn't be realistic for a story set in 1962. Sorry, but the President was a white man back then, as were most people in positions of power, and like it or not, racist laws were still being practiced down South.
So a screenwriter has to work within a certain set of story constructs, and those will be dictated by the reality of the year in which the movie is set. Plus, this is based on a true story, so assuming that the film stays close to the proven facts of that story, that becomes partially criticism-proof, right? The only question then becomes whether the story is worth telling, whether it has something to say, and I believe that it is and it does.
That being said, it's an obvious formula being used here, to show two people who are very different, who are at opposite ends of some spectrum, or don't see eye-to-eye at first. Over time spent together working together toward a common goal, they achieve some form of understanding, or something akin to a friendship. The road-trip format is just an ideal way to force two people with contrasting ideologies together, to create a limited amount of time together when their goals coincide. Pianist Don Shirley booked a concert tour across the South to challenge people's perceptions of race, and in a way to challenge himself as well.
In turn, Frank (aka "Tony Lip") is challenged, because he's spent his life in the Bronx, surrounded by a close-knit Italian family and community, and racist attitudes and behaviors were still around back then. He might have known a few black people, but not many, and he probably didn't have any black friends. But if anything, the portrayal of an Italian community in (mostly liberal) New York that was still partially racist on a day-to-day basis, that itself constitutes a set of stereotypes, that Italians would walk around saying "eggplants" as a derogatory term for African-American people, would not consider drinking out of the same glass as a black person, etc.
Don Shirley is portrayed here as a man stuck between two worlds, estranged from his family and not in touch with his heritage, so not black enough to live comfortably in some situations, and not fitting in very well in the white world either. He doesn't like to eat fried chicken, and though he knows who Little Richard and Aretha Franklin are, he's not familiar with any of their music. If this seems hard for Frank to believe, one could imagine that the audience could have the same problem - his character is not a walking stereotype, somehow it's the exact opposite of one.
If anything, there are more ITALIAN stereotypes on display in this film than African-American ones. Which, along with Irish and Russian stereotypes, is one of the few racial portrayals that films can still get away with. You probably know what I'm talking about here - all Italian people know somebody in organized crime, they all have big families, they always eat fish on Christmas Eve. These things may be true very often, but they're also stereotypes, aka narrative shortcuts. Thank God Frank never says, "fugeddahbout it!" in this film, at least I think he does, but he says, "Don't worry about it!" which is awful close.
Also, Frank is ALWAYS eating in this film - that's another Italian stereotype, right? It's a wonder that Dr. Shirley made all of his concert dates when Frank would stop so often for food. Like, he's excited about getting Kentucky Fried Chicken when IN Kentucky - Umm, he knows it's not any fresher there, right? Does he think that all the KFC sold around the country comes from Kentucky? Right, Italians are low class and dumb, another stereotype. See what I mean?
Speaking of the itinerary, does it make sense to go from Indiana all the way east to Georgia and then back toward the midwest for Little Rock and Baton Rouge? I've got to call a NITPICK POINT on this one, because any concert tour has to make sense from a driving perspective, and Don Shirley seemed to be a smart man, so he wouldn't have booked himself into a bunch of venues that would mean going all criss-cross across the South and then doubling back over the same territory.
If you're wondering, the title refers to a real green-colored tourist book, one that was designed to help black people find the best hotels and restaurants to patronize that would accept them, also which ones were integrated and which ones were whites-only. Because after you create organized religion and organized crime, why not have organized racism?
I've still only seen half of the 2018 films nominated for Best Picture, 4 out of 8. I still have to see "Roma", "The Favourite", "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "BlacKkKlansman" - but of the films I have seen so far, I think "Black Panther" is out in front with a score of 8, then comes "A Star Is Born" with a 7, and "Vice" got a 6. So I guess I would have voted for "Black Panther", I doubt that Spike Lee's film is going to out-score that one.
Speaking of Spike Lee (again), I just KNEW he wouldn't be able to graciously accept his Oscar, and that would be the end of it. He finally won an Oscar this year for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the smart move would have been to just be happy with that and move on - but he just couldn't do it. So naturally if he complains about "Green Book" winning when his film was also nominated for Best Picture, that just looks like sour grapes, like he feels that HIS film about race should have won instead. Based on his films, though, where race is concerned he tends to use a sledgehammer when a lighter touch would usually be preferable. Remember in "Do the Right Thing" when he just instructed actors to stare right into the camera and use every racial epithet they could think of for black people, white people and Asians? Here I thought that over the years he might learn that a more subtle approach might be beneficial, and now I'm betting that he hasn't changed a bit.
Also starring Mahershala Ali (last seen in "Moonlight"), Linda Cardellini (last seen in "Avengers: Endgame"), Sebastian Maniscalco (last seen in "The House"), Dimiter D. Marinov (last seen in "Triple 9"), Mike Hatton, P.J. Byrne (last seen in "The Gift"), Iqbal Theba, Joe Cortese (last seen in "Rules Don't Apply"), Maggie Nixon, Von Lewis (last seen in "I Saw the Light"), Don Stark (last seen in "Hello, My Name Is Doris"), Anthony Mangano (last seen in "The Dictator"), Randal Gonzalez, Tom Virtue (last seen in "Live by Night"), Brian Distance, Dennis W. Hall, Brian Stepanek, Paul Sloan, Quinn Duffy, Seth Hurwitz, Ninja Devoe, with a cameo from the real Frank Vallelonga.
RATING: 6 out of 10 folded pizzas
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