By: Keaton Marcus

Comedic filmmaker Peter Farrelly directs true story-based dramedy, "Green Book" and while it does not exactly "tackle" racism, the flick is a carefree, enjoyable and well-acted pic that is meriting a watch. In terms of the road trip genre, "Green Book" should be considered a landmark, as the film covers the potentially bumpy territory with surprisingly smooth execution; Considering the subject matter, the flick could be a lot better, and a contender for one of the best films of the year, the entertainment value-- the distinguished displays by an overweight Viggo Mortensen and a pinprick Mahershala Ali in the supporting role make "Green Book" a successful Farrelly-production that overcomes its genre clichès.

The film follows the story of an Italian American living in Brooklyn, named Tony Vallelonga aka Tony Lip (Mortensen) a loudmouth who works in a bar as a bouncer; But when the place is closed for renovations, Tony is looking for a job with enough money--he then finds that an African American pianist, Dr. Shirley (Ali) is looking for a chauffeur for his eight-week concert down in the south of America. The man surprisingly hires Tony, and the whole film plays out a road-trip film, but with many injected surprises between the lines.

The cast outshines any other prospect in the film; Viggo Mortensen tends to be the star of the show, playing the generic loudmouth Italian Tony--but remember the hunk we once knew from the early 2,000's in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, or the western sweeper "Hidalgo" from the year 2004. Well in "Green Book" the usually muscular actor reportedly gained over 35 pounds to play the role of Tony, and it clearly shows throughout the entire film that the Viggo we knew is almost unrecognizable in his newest effort. His performance is brilliant, and jaw-droppingly funny occasionally, despite some expected falters in the script, the entertaining film around them allows Mortensen to ease into the solid pic without ever (and I mean ever) playing it safe. Academy Award winner ("Moonlight") Mahershala Ali also joined the cast and plays pianist Dr. Shirley (as mentioned before). The actor's performance is superb and is one of the best-supporting showcases I have seen all year long; The odd-couple in the film is similar to the Farrelly-directed buddy comedy "Dumb and Dumber", and while not as funny, it is easily more clever and intelligent.

There are many obvious laughs during the movie, the initial idea that comes to my mind is the hysterical scene of when Tony introduces Kentucky Fried Chicken to Dr. Shirley, and while the doctor is unwilling at first, Vallelonga ultimately influences him, soon before they are both stuffing their faces in delicious, but oh so unhealthy food. Otherwise-- in one other exhibition, Dr. Shirley catches Tony writing to his wife Dolores (a talented Linda Cardellini) and helps him right annoyingly descriptive letters, changing his word choice, and fixing his punctuation.

"Green Book" also happens to be the most important, meaningful and (best) Farrelly directed film of all time. Peter Farrelly is generally known for directing gross-out comedies with his brother Bob, such as the aforementioned "Dumb and Dumber", the Jack Black-vehicle "Shallow Hall" or the Jim Carrey-starring "Me, Myself & Irene". Farrelly's films tend to be occasionally funny, but there generic plots and paper-thin character development generally make them average. This newest film is extremely surprising for such a juvenile filmmaker, especially since he made reportedly "racist" comments which hurt his chance in the Oscars for Best Director.

The final verdict is: "Green Book" is simplistic occasionally, and could make some more interesting points to take down racism, but the performances and easy laughs make this feel-good dramedy a worthy Oscar-contender that audiences will be cheering for...$PLURGE IT

FILM REVIEW “GREEN BOOK”

Dr. Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) in Green Book — Dr. Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) in *Green Book*

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Age Rating: 13+

Lemonradar/Score: 76/100 "sweet"