We loved this story of an Italian Bronx bouncer chauffeuring a cultured African-American jazz pianist on a 1962 tour of the deep south. Based on a true story, it's already racking up nominations and awards (here's my selected list, sorted by title).
Viggo Mortensen (last blogged for Captain Fantastic) is wonderful as the nonstop talking, nonstop eating Tony Lip AKA Tony Vallelonga; Mahershala Ali (most recently in these pages for Hidden Figures after winning an Oscar for Moonlight) is transcendent as the classically trained Don Shirley PhD; and Linda Cardellini (last blogged for The Founder) is delightful as Tony's warm, loving, and practical wife Dolores.
Director/co-writer Peter Farrelly has taken a sharp turn away from his slapstick history (e.g. the Dumb and Dumber series (1994 and 2014), There's Something About Mary (1998), several segments of Movie 43, more) with this thoughtful dramatic piece titled for the actual book used by black people to find safe places to visit in Jim Crow south. Tony Lip's actual son Nick Vallelonga is a co-writer and he and other members of the Vallelonga family appear on screen, though we didn't know it at the time. We also did not know that the real Tony Lip was on The Sopranos, playing Carmine Lupertazzi, and other roles (here's a photo). Nick has been behind and in front of the camera for 25 years. The third co-writer Brian Hayes Currie has had a couple dozen small acting parts (and makes a cameo as a Maryland State Trooper near the end of this one) and makes his screenwriting debut here. There are lots of truly funny bits sprinkled into the drama.
The set design, especially that Carnegie Hall apartment, is terrific and today I told a fiber artist that she should see the beaded robe that Dr. Shirley wears in that scene. And, oh, that Cadillac!
My regular readers know how much the music in any movie means to me and this one is wonderfully music driven. Both the trailer and the movie begin with Dave Brubeck's Unsquare Dance (I also mentioned its appearance in Baby Driver) a jaunty tune in a tempo of seven, which makes this musician happy. For more Brubeck, here's a YouTube playlist.
Kris Bowers (last scored Little Boxes) trained Ali and was his piano double on camera. The soundtrack album is available at the usual outlets and can be streamed on spotify from this link.
There are lots and lots of songs, many with vocals, and here are two playlists (one, two). And, to delve deeper into the music of the Don Shirley Trio, you can listen to this playlist, that one, or the "Best of Don Shirley" on YouTube
Many people can't identify this movie by its title. But when I say, "Driving Mr. Daisy," they know immediately. Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 82%, are slightly less enthusiastic than its audiences at 94. We say see it.
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