Green Book (film)
Green Book is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Farrelly. Starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, the film is inspired by the true story of a 1962 tour of the Deep South by African American pianist Don Shirley and Italian American bouncer and later actor Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga, who served as Shirley's driver and bodyguard. Written by Farrelly alongside Lip's son Nick Vallelonga and Brian Hayes Currie, the film is based on interviews with Lip and Shirley, as well as letters Lip wrote to his wife.[5] It is named after The Negro Motorist Green Book, a guide book for African American travelers founded by Victor Hugo Green in 1936 and published until 1966.
This article is about 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film. For the guidebook for African American roadtrips, see The Negro Motorist Green Book.Green Book
- Nick Vallelonga
- Brian Hayes Currie
- Peter Farrelly
- Jim Burke
- Brian Hayes Currie
- Peter Farrelly
- Nick Vallelonga
- Charles B. Wessler
Patrick J. Don Vito
- Participant Media[1]
- DreamWorks Pictures[1]
- Innisfree Pictures[1]
- Cinetic Media[1]
- Alibaba Pictures[2]
- September 11, 2018 (TIFF)
- November 16, 2018 (United States)
130 minutes
United States
English
$23 million[3]
$321.8 million[4]
Green Book had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2018, where it won the People's Choice Award. It was then theatrically released in the United States on November 16, 2018, by Universal Pictures, and grossed $321 million worldwide. The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances of Mortensen and Ali, although it also drew some criticism of its depiction of both race and Shirley.
Green Book received numerous awards and nominations. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor (for Ali). It also won the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Theatrical Motion Picture, the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and the National Board of Review award for the best film of 2018, and was chosen as one of the top 10 films of the year by the American Film Institute. Ali also won the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA Awards for Best Supporting Actor.[6][7]
Plot[edit]
In the Bronx in 1962, Italian American bouncer Tony Lip searches for new employment while the Copacabana is closed for renovations. He is invited to an interview with Dr. Don Shirley, an African American pianist in need of a driver for his eight-week concert tour through the Midwest and Deep South. Don hires Tony on the strength of his references. They embark with plans to return to New York City on Christmas Eve. Don's record label gives Tony a copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book, a guide for African American travelers to find motels, restaurants, and filling stations that would serve them in the Jim Crow South.[8]
Tony and Don initially clash as Tony feels uncomfortable being asked to act with more refinement, while haughty Don is displeased by Tony's habits. As the tour progresses, Tony is impressed with Don's talent on the piano and is increasingly appalled by the discriminatory treatment that Don receives from his hosts and the general public when he is not onstage. In Louisville, Kentucky, a group of white men beat Don and threaten his life in a bar before Tony rescues him. He instructs Don not to go out without him for the rest of the tour.
Throughout the journey, Don helps Tony write eloquent letters to his wife, which deeply move her. Tony encourages Don to get in touch with his own estranged brother, but Don is hesitant, observing that he has become isolated by his professional life and achievements. Don is later found in a homosexual encounter with a white man at a pool, and Tony bribes officers to prevent his arrest. In Mississippi, the two are arrested after police officers pull them over late at night in a sundown town, and Tony punches one officer after being insulted. While in jail, Don asks to phone his lawyer and instead uses the call to reach Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who pressures the governor and police officers to release the two. Once they are free and back on the road, Don reprimands Tony for his distasteful actions, and a heated argument erupts regarding race relations and meritocracy, during which Don expresses frustration at feeling rejected by the black community due to his mannerisms while the white community either mistreats him or uses him to make themselves look open-minded. The two eventually find a hotel for the night and manage to reconcile.
On the night of Don's final performance in Birmingham, Alabama, he is refused entry into the whites-only dining room of the country club where he has been hired to perform. Tony threatens the manager, and Don refuses to play since they refuse to serve him in the room with his audience. Tony and Don leave the venue and instead have dinner at a black blues club, where Don joins the band on piano. The pair head north in an attempt to make it home by Christmas Eve but are caught in a blizzard. They are then once again pulled over by a police officer. Worried they are about to get the same treatment, both are surprised when the officer turns out to be friendly and only pulled them over because he noticed one of their tires was flat. The officer then helps them fix the tire and they are able to make it home. Tony invites Don to have dinner with his family, but Don declines. Sitting alone at home, Don changes his mind and returns to Tony's home, where he receives a surprisingly warm welcome by Tony's extended family.
The end title cards show real-life photos of Don and Tony. It states that Don continued to tour and create music, while Tony went back to his work at the Copacabana, and that they remained friends until dying months apart in 2013.
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Green Book grossed $85.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $236.7 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $321.8 million, against a production budget of $23 million.[4] Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $106 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.[23]
The film made $312,000 from 25 theaters in its opening weekend, an average of $12,480 per venue, which Deadline Hollywood called "not good at all", although TheWrap said it was a "successful start," and noted strong word-of-mouth would likely help it going into its wide release.[29][30] The film had its wide expansion alongside the openings of Ralph Breaks the Internet, Robin Hood and Creed II, and was projected to gross around $7–9 million over the five-day weekend, November 21 to 25.[31] It made $908,000 on its first day of wide release and $1 million on its second. It grossed $5.4 million over the three-day weekend (and $7.4 million over the five), finishing ninth. Deadline wrote that the opening was "far from where [it needed] to be to be considered a success," and that strong audience word of mouth and impending award nominations would be needed in order to help the film develop box office legs. Rival studios argued that Universal went too wide too fast: from 25 theaters to 1,063 in less than a week.[32]
In its second weekend the film made $3.9 million, falling just 29% and leading some industry insiders to think it would achieve $50 million during awards season.[33] In its third weekend of wide release, following its Golden Globe nominations, it dropped 0% and again made $3.9 million, then made $2.8 million the following weekend.[34][35] In its eighth weekend, the film made $1.8 million (continuing to hold well, dropping just 3% from the previous week).[36] It then made $2.1 million in its ninth weekend (up 18%) and $2.1 million in its 10th.[37] In the film's 11th week of release, following the announcement of its five Oscar nominations, it was added to 1,518 theaters (for a total of 2,430) and made $5.4 million, an increase of 150% from the previous weekend and finishing sixth at the box office.[38] The weekend following its Best Picture win, the film was added to 1,388 theaters (for a total of 2,641) and made $4.7 million, finishing fifth at the box office. It marked a 121% increase from the previous week, as well as one of the best post-Best Picture win bumps ever,[39] and largest since The King's Speech in 2011.[40]
Green Book was a surprise success overseas, especially in China where it debuted to a much higher-than-expected $17.3 million, immediately becoming the second highest-grossing Best Picture winner in the country behind Titanic (1997).[41] As of March 7, 2019, the largest international markets for the film were China ($26.7 million), France ($10.7 million), the United Kingdom ($10 million), Australia ($7.8 million) and Italy ($8.6 million).[42] By March 13, China's total had grown to $44.5 million.[43] On March 31 the film passed $300 million at the global box office, including $219 million from overseas territories. Its largest markets to-date were China ($70.7 million), Japan ($14.6 million), France ($14 million) Germany ($13.5 million) and the UK ($12.9 million).[44]