Green Book: A Great Road Trip!

This movie is a MUST-SEE and will easily make my Top 10 for the year.  It has much in common with one of my favorite movies of all time, "In the Heat of the Night" (1967 – Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger), and also takes place in the South during a similar time period.  It's a "hybrid" too, with a slice of "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989 – Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy) tossed in, only "in reverse." The film is directed by Peter Farrelly who has gotten AAW performances from both Viggo Mortensen (as Tony Vallelonga) and Mahershala Ali (as Dr. Don Shirley).  It was inspired by a true story which was co-written by Farrelly and Tony's son, Nick.  It's formulaic, and you know where it's going and how it will end, but the acting is so great and the film so emotionally compelling that you'll love being "taken for a ride" anyway. It's 1962 and the bouncer, Tony, at the famous NYC night club "The Copacabana" is out of work for two months while the club is closed for repairs.  He needs money to make ends meet.  As luck would have it, one of the world's best pianists, Don Shirley, is going on tour in the South and needs a driver.  Shirley was trained in Russia in classical music, but, due to prejudice, his record company makes him record and tour playing more popular music, since there is no audience for a black classical pianist. Tony is an overweight, uneducated, uninhibited, out-there Italian guy, while Shirley is reserved, stiff, and a bit of a snob.  Off they go together on the tour, and they have all kinds of interesting conversations along their ride, often getting on each other's nerves.  The film highlights the subtle prejudices we all have despite our efforts to the contrary, as well as the racism that was rampant in the South at that time.  The title, "Green Book," is based on a travel guide that lists the hotels, motels, and restaurants that allowed blacks in their establishments, since even someone as accomplished as Shirley (who had a couple of PhDs) can't even stay or eat in the nice places. Both actors should be nominated for an AA, but "water pistol to my eye-ball" (why use a cliche?) I'd pick Viggo, who is phenomenal!  They both play off each other and have transcendental chemistry!  My problem now is who I will pick for Best Actor of 2018, Bradley Cooper or Viggo?!  Stay tuned!