Dawn and The Husband will be spending the next few days attending the Toronto International Film Festival, known to the locals as TIFF. No longer rookies, they still have selected a modest number of films (5) because Rosh Hashanah is putting a crimp into their movie-viewing schedule this year. TIFF still serves as a tremendous distraction from the world's ills, the impending High Holidays, and asshole would-be dictators whose names rhyme with Dump and Thug. The next several posts will focus on TIFF and offer very quick bullet point reviews for the movies seen.
Our quintet of films suddenly turned into a sextet on Wednesday when The Husband, in his infinite and prescient wisdom, bought us tickets for one last cinematic experience. When the list of TIFF films came out, Green Book was in my top five but when we went to purchase our tickets, this film went mysteriously missing from the lineup. I was unhappy but figured that it must have been pulled or delayed. Nope. There was simply a glitch in the TIFF site and so we chose five other movies and left Green Book as an anticipatory late autumn night at the theatre. When the powers that be at TIFF added an extra showing, The Husband pounced on the tickets and so we spent this final Shabbat of TIFF in the screening room at The Princess of Wales Theatre.
I love Viggo Mortensen in almost everything (you all simply must see Captain Fantastic) and Mahershala Ali is a truly incredible actor. His performance in Moonlight had me in tears. The premise of Green Book, once again based on a true story, seemed like an old-fashioned buddy/road trip premise. Mortensen's "wise-guy" bouncer from the Bronx is hired to drive Ali's sophisticated and brilliant pianist through a series of gigs in the 1960's Jim Crow south. The green book is a reference to an actual publication that was distributed to African-Americans who were travelling through segregated areas in order to inform them of the "suitable" hotels and restaurants. Who knew?
The film is funny, a little sad, anger-inducing at times, and sometimes a wee bit predictable but I loved every single minute of it. The two leads (and they are both leads. I will be infuriated if come awards season the studio tries to shove Ali into the supporting category) have tremendous chemistry and turn what could have been a formulaic flick into something special. Director Peter Farrelly (of dumbass movie fame) handles the subject matter sensitively and with a smart comedic eye. He shares a screenwriting credit with the son of the actual guy played by Mortensen.
Green Book is a crowd pleaser and I will not be shocked if it wins the People's Prize here at TIFF. It may not be high art but it was a helluva great afternoon at the movies. Dawn and The Husband's recommendation: Two enthusiastic YUPS!!!
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