j* Movie Reviews 2019

Green Book (2019)

This does something great, simultaneously it explores both race and class, with a side of ethnicity and sexuality.

Humans are complicated beings, and never more complicated than when we try to classify them by easily identifiable behaviours or characteristics. And there are great big Venn diagrams of overlap. Do you know who really loves fried chicken? Humans.

I found this interesting in the way it divorced race from class, thus allowing the two things to be discussed separately. This sets up our white-Italian-American bouncer as the lower-class, rough-end working man, and our black—African-American pianist being the high-class, super-educated, lorded musician. I loved this. The constant play between racism and classism as a way to break down the barriers between to two individuals thrown together was lovely.

Doc Shirley had such excellent sarcastic wit, and Tony Lip such a carefree sense of abandon. The way they road-trip through the intensity of the deep South in the 1960s, confronting mostly the upper-class end of what could be the KKK is pretty cool.

Because richness, middle-classness and education doesn't make you a good person. Poorness, working-classness and un-educated doesn't make you bad. And whichever side of these things you come from, all (good) people are capable of both change, compromise and acceptance.

There are a few super predictable scenes, but they're the things I desperately wanted to happen, and seeing those unfurl is always wonderful. There's also some excellent things I didn't expect.

It's a long talky road-trip movie, but with a lot of wit and humour and some gorgeous moments of wonderful humanity.

J* gives it 5 stars.

PS. I loved the recurring fried chicken thing. I know others hate it, but I loved it. I'm human, and humans love fried chicken.