The Farrelly brothers may remain titans of the 1990s – the kings of gross-out comedy – but it was inevitable that one (or both) would branch out in their later careers.
As it turns out, it was Peter Farrelly who was the first to break the mould, delivering Green Book: a sincere telling of the real-life story of Tony Lip, a working-class Italian-American bouncer who became the chauffeur to Dr Don Shirley, the renowned classical pianist, during the 1960s.
Their days spent driving through the Deep South offer a revealing portrait of America’s deep-rooted racism; the title, Green Book, comes from a form of guidebook used by black travellers when moving across areas of segregation.
The film also boasts two acclaimed performers at its centre: Oscar winner Mahershala Ali and two-time Oscar-nominee Viggo Mortensen.
“Green Book was a project that I kept thinking about after I had read it,” Ali said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “If you look at these two archetypes [in films], it’s so often the black guy is serving as some sort of grounding force and reality check who’s coming from a low-income or working-class environment, for the wealthier, more affluent character.”
“I really responded to the fact that it was flipped on its head the way that it was, and the fact that it was based on a real relationship.”
Green Book is headed to UK cinemas, though a release date is yet to be announced.
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