Article Tag: film review

EW rates Green Book a B+, with kudos to both Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali. "It’s almost impossible to picture the fine-boned Danish-American actor as Tony “Lip” Vallelonga until you see him up there, all marinara-sauced vowels and Brylcreemed hair, working his bada bing like Joe Pesci’s chin-dimpled brother.... The movie wouldn’t work, though, without the elegant, understated balance of his counterpart."

Rex Reed gives Green Book 4/4 stars and names it "one of the best and most memorable films in a decade." He shares his own not particularly flattering memories of Dr. Don Shirley ("a pretentious Jamaican musician so improvisational he couldn’t play anything straight"), but delights in "the adventures of this unlikely odd couple [that] provide rich, hilarious and heartwarming material for a film that will leave you cheering." He applauds Mahershala Ali, who "more than lives up to his hype," and is effusive about Viggo Mortensen: "Words cannot describe how wonderful, real and three-dimensionally human he is.... Sporting a Bronx accent, a spare tire around his belly, a ton of gained weight and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he’s a slob and a goon, but in no time you believe you know him from a thousand possible places, and he grows on you, like a tight shoe you can’t do without."

After sharing the way that Dr. Shirley and Tony Lip deal with the many challenges they encounter on their journey, the reviewer observes that "the joy of this movie hinges on the performances of its two central characters. Mortensen is a notoriously prepared performer, and I worried in the scene where Tony eats 26 hot dogs to win a bet that the actor might have done likewise. And Ali gets his first role since winning the Oscar for Moonlight that lets him show off his range."

The title of Green Book derives from a period when African Americans often traveled at their own risk, especially in the Jim Crow South. Unwelcome in many restaurants, hotels and other public establishments, they even faced death in “sundown” towns, where they were warned to get out before evening, or else. In response, a postal employee […]

"Viggo Mortensen may be the most taciturn actor in American movies today. His weatherworn, handsome face ... communicates character with only the slightest of movement, with rarely a hint of premeditation. You can’t slack off while watching one of his performances; his delicate way of registering feeling requires your utmost attention."

Captivating interview with Viggo covers Jauja, his preparation and work as an actor, family, Perceval Press, and activism. Interviewer Alice Fisher concludes: "Whether he’s stumbling through a desert looking for life’s answers, bringing his own tea set to an interview or flying across the country for a 20-minute chat, the man knows what he wants.”

The reviewer is hooked by The Two Faces of January: "The performances are wonderful: Mortensen, as a man maintaining a battered façade of respectability, even as he disintegrates in alcohol and jealousy; Dunst, as a wearying sex-bomb looking for a way out; and Isaac, whose quality of watchfulness sets him apart from other young actors."

Detailed review of the script, acting and production hails director Renny Harlin but pans Viggo Mortensen. "Judging from his performance here, it's hard to believe Mortensen managed to work his way up to a high class project like Lord Of The Rings. He is incredibly vanilla bland, whether he's being confronted by a Bubba-like prisoner, or trying to escape from the evil wraith that has enveloped the prison. His unemotional state ends up transforming him into some kind of holier-than-thou snot, making him quite an annoying hero.... In his defense, Mortensen's character is just as blandly sketched by the screenplay."

Detailed review of The Fellowship focuses on the differences between the books and the films and the reasons for the changes. In spite of some reservations, he is impressed. "The filmmakers have shown great respect for their source material. I was moved by Peter Jackson’s passionate, caring, and human portrayals of these characters and dramas.... I’ve imagined these scenes my whole life, and to see them portrayed as vividly, or more vividly than I have imagined, really shook me. I felt like I was meeting in person someone with whom I had only corresponded long distance for decades."

Of The Passion of Darkly Noon, film festival reviewer TR observes that "The brutality and contradiction of human nature is revealed without any romanticizing, by using dream-like images which are open to interpretation." He concludes that "The Passion of Darkly Noon secures Philip Ridley's position as one of the most interesting young British filmmakers of today."