Heartwarming Best Picture Winner Is Streaming For Free

For those interested in checking Green Book out today, the Best Picture winner is streaming for free on a service called FXNOW. Though the movie isn’t ruinously funny, it was written and directed by comedy filmmaking legend Peter Farrelly, who is best known for teaming with his brother Bobby to helm such classics as There’s Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber, and Shallow Hal.

Since taking on the task of directing Green Book, Farrelly has returned to the realm of straightforward comedies, churning out recent hits like The Greatest Beer Run Ever and Ricky Stanicky.

Green Book serves as a true story retelling of American Pianist Don Shirley’s 1962 tour across the Deep South, wherein he was escorted from venue to venue by an Italian American bodyguard named Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga.

To bring the film to life, Farrelly worked alongside Vallelonga’s real life son to adapt a series of interviews between the two gentlemen, along with a few handwritten letters the pair had concocted while on the road.

Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen lead the cast of Green Book, alongside performances from Linda Cardellini, Sebastian Maniscalco, Dimiter D. Marinov, P.J. Byrne, and That 70’s Show‘s Don Stark.

It’s easy to see why Green Book was such a massive critical success, and why the Academy deemed the film fit for a plethora of major accolades. For starters, the performances by Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen are completely unparalleled, with both revered actors completely disappearing into their respective roles.

Close family and friends of the real life Don Shirley and Tony Lip have confirmed that the performances are about as dead-on accurate as you could possibly get in a feature film.

Beyond that, Green Book delivers a general vibe of found friendship and road-trip bonding that truly nourishes the soul, making this movie the perfect film to put on when you need to check out of reality and take a few hours for your mental health.

For a narrative that centers around a black man’s tour through the Deep South in the early 1960s, that should come as a major surprise. While the film is not without conflict, the problems that arise over the course of the runtime and the solutions ironed out by Tony and Shirley are endlessly enjoyable to watch.

GFR SCORE

I won’t spoil too many details of the film here, because it should really be enjoyed with fresh eyes, but I would recommend Green Book to just about anyone looking for a positive cinematic experience. Just don’t go in expecting to see Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali swinging swords at mythical beasts, and you should have a fun time. Green Book is currently streaming free with ads on FXNOW.