Green Book

If someone had told me at the beginning of the year that the best film would be a road movie drama with Oscar ambitions, I would have laughed them off, but hats off to them, this is a cinematic gem next to which Forrest Gump and The Shawshank Redemption look like B-movies. Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali deliver superhuman performances and their chemistry is flawless. The film pulls up a lot with tasteful and apt humour, the mafia undertones and the strong racism of the time. There are tense scenes and, most importantly, emotions, where I found myself crying for maybe two whole hours at a stretch and that never happened in my life. After watching it, I immediately got the feeling that I had to see the film again with everyone close to me and that doesn't happen often. The event of the year and for me possibly the best drama ever. 100%. (07/02/2019)

If American Beauty offered a sophisticated, often subtle and graceful critique of the American middle class, Green Book, in a similarly bittersweet vein, presents the issues of racism in 1960s America, unassumingly, without relying on pathos, witty and with just enough insight. Viggo Mortensen dominates with his De Niro accent and redneck diction, Ali got the Oscar because he's black. For a film that is mostly about the interaction of two characters, it is brisk, fresh and entertaining. (03/03/2019)

An easygoing road-movie with strong characters (Mortensen steals the show), a convincing period atmosphere, and dialogues that don’t hurt, at least to watch once. But the “conflict” that the film offers is so unoriginal and fake that it buries the quality of the whole lot. The development of Tony’s racist views are almost invisible and the script is basically a series of stops at moral clichés and shoddy motifs (the cop on the road, the “white” restaurant). There was potential and I can praise Farrelly for the fact that I rooted for protagonists, but that’s not enough to make an above-par social drama. 60% (25/01/2019)

An overly calculated and sure-footed Oscar-winning film that ticks off the likely situations to come, and they do come, including the pathetic ending. But the dialogues between Tony and Shirley are hilariously written, there's a great spark between them and I laughed my heart out at times. Viggo plays my peer, always eating like me, getting a pot belly like me, just cute. I'd like him to win an Oscar, more than Rami "look-at-my-brutal-attempt" Malek, and more than Ali, who to me is an actor of one expression. (02/08/2019)

This is a pleasant Christmas fairy tale. This type of drama-comedy, where two people from different walks of life are forced to learn from each other and rethink their attitudes, is probably always a sure-fire hit. It seems quite superficial and there is no real drama in the whole movie, however, it is still an all-around positive and relaxing movie with the great Viggo Mortensen, whose third Oscar nomination I would like to finally change into an actual award. (07/02/2019)