The Movie I’d Give to the Man Who Yelled at Me

I watched Green Book twice.

It got a second playthrough.

Here’s my Green Book review, short version. Five lines.

The drop between rich and working class.

The drop between big-hearted bluster and careful refinement.

The drop between Black and white status.

From the gap between one end and the other, a drop like a waterfall,

a cool, clean drop that smashes a thousand feelings to pieces.

Score: 9.2

That’s it. That’s the whole review. But it needs a little explaining.

What is Green Book about?

Short answer: Green Book is a 2018 film directed by Peter Farrelly, based on a real concert tour. Viggo Mortensen plays Tony “Lip” Vallelonga, a New York bouncer who needs work. Mahershala Ali plays Don Shirley, a brilliant pianist who hires Tony to drive him through the segregated Deep South in 1962. It won three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Ali. My score: 9.2 out of 10.

That’s the plot. But what got me wasn’t the plot.

The drop

There’s a Korean word I love for this: 낙차. It means the height of a fall. How far the water drops from the top of the cliff to the bottom.

When I say “drop,” I don’t mean one scene. I mean the setup.

Don is rich. Tony has almost nothing.

Tony is loud, big-hearted and rough around the edges. Don is careful, precise and refined down to the last detail.

And in that time and place, a white man works for a Black man, while the world outside treats the Black man as less.

Put two people at opposite ends like that, and put them in one car for weeks. The distance between them is the waterfall. The bigger the drop, the bigger the splash. And the splash is where all the feelings break open. Laughing, wincing, getting angry, getting warm. Sometimes in the same minute.

Why my heart went to Tony

Don is the one you’re supposed to admire. And you do. Ali is incredible.

But my heart went more to Tony.

Tony doesn’t have much. No money, no fancy words, no status. And he never loses his dignity as a person. He doesn’t bow to anyone just because they have more. He doesn’t act small because he has less.

That’s rare. I think it’s the hardest thing to keep when you have nothing else.

The honk

A few years ago, on a rainy day, I was delivering food as an Uber driver.

The car in front of me started backing up at a fork in the road. I was right behind it. So I gave a short honk. Just to say, “Hey, I’m here.”

My English wasn’t good back then.

The other driver, a white guy, pulled up beside me and started yelling. Cursing. Over and over. Like I’d done something so terrible that he might explode if anyone touched him.

I apologized. Then I apologized again. And again. He didn’t stop.

That’s when I felt it. Racism.

I hadn’t done anything really wrong. But he treated me with this feeling that he was simply above me, by default. From where I sat, that feeling was very hard to take.

It was years ago. It still plays back in my head, clear as the day it happened. I think I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.

Where the movie and that day meet

That’s why the third line of my review hits me differently now.

The drop between people isn’t only about money. Sometimes one person just decides he’s higher. Nothing earned. Just assumed.

What I love about Tony is that he doesn’t play that game in either direction. With nothing in his pockets, he stands up straight. And when he’s the one with more power in the room, he slowly learns to stand next to someone instead of above them.

One man yelling at me isn’t a whole group of people. I know that. But that one day showed me how deep the drop can feel from the bottom.

Is Green Book worth watching?

A fair note first: not everyone thinks the movie got Don Shirley right. His family said they weren’t consulted, and his brother Maurice Shirley called it a “symphony of lies,” while co-writer Nick Vallelonga and director Peter Farrelly defended the film (TIME, Variety).

9.2 out of 10.

From me, that’s a high score.

So where did the other 0.8 go? I’m keeping it out of respect for the movies I haven’t seen yet. Somebody has to save a seat for them.

Who I’d give it to

Some movies you recommend. Some you give.

If I could, I’d give this one to the man who yelled at me on that rainy day.

Not to win the argument. Just so he could ride along with Tony and Don for a while, and see how far apart two people can start, and still end up at the same table.