Movie tip

Green Book

Peter Farrelly does quite an accomplished job directing this fact-based tale of a brilliant, black pianist on tour through the South in 1962, driven by (and given the occasional helping hand, or fist, by) a not-so-enlightened white bouncer from the Bronx. What makes this movie soar, though, are the wonderfully detailed performances by Viggo Mortensen as the driver and Mahershala Ali as the piano virtuoso. Mortensen in particular has to walk a fine line with his character, who could easily play like a palooka from New Yawk. But Mortensen creates nuances that make him multifaceted. Ali is all perfect-posture control but gives flashes of the roiling emotions existing behind the composed exterior. Farrelly surrenders to his sentimental impulses at the very end, after avoiding them for much of the film’s run, but “Green Book” ultimately proves the filmmaker, previously best-known for comedies, has a way with drama.