MOVIE: Green Book is making some audiences see red

IN a world where many people are constantly on the lookout for opportunities to be offended, one Oscar frontrunner is doing its fair share of provoking.

‘Green Book’ tells the true story of African-American pianist, Dr Don Shirley, who goes on a tour of the Deep South in 1962, taking a tough Italian-American driver with him for protection. 

The cultured Dr Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and the streetsmart Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen), strike up an unlikely friendship in a sweet, funny, and entertaining road movie that feels like it has borrowed heavily from ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ and ‘Planes Trains and Automobiles’. 

The film is taking heat lately as some call it a ‘White Saviour’ film, while others object to old tweets from one of the writers. 

It has even led to a movie critic in the States criticising the film while admitting that he hasn’t even seen it, and refuses to do so. 

If we start trawling through old tweets from everyone who works on every movie, it’s likely that every film will be blacklisted. Perhaps that’s where we’re headed. All this at a time when the Oscar ceremony is without a host, as the organisers, surprise surprise, were unable to find someone who has never caused offence. 

So we award Green Book a review score of 4.5 deserving stars, but don’t tell anyone you enjoyed it. 

Another film out this week is ‘Escape Room’ which is based on the physical adventure game where competitors try to solve clues and escape from a locked space. 

While there are no Oscar nominations for this offering, it’s perfectly serviceable popcorn fare, and it does what it says on the tin. We give it 2.5 average stars. 

Two more films recently released are ‘The Mule’, starring Clint Eastwood and ‘Destroyer’, headlined by Nicole Kidman. 

‘The Mule’ is an entertaining and amusing real life story about a 90-year old drug mule that deserves 4.5 stars, and ‘Destroyer’ is a grim and gritty cop thriller that drags, and despite another excellent performance from Kidman, it’s a middling 4.5 star affair.