Best Picture Nominees: Green Book


Eight films have been nominated for Best Picture this year. I will be taking a look at each of the nominees leading up to the big awards on February 24.

Green Book
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, and Linda Cardellini
Directed By: Peter Farrelly
Total Nominations: 5
Nominated For: Best Picture, Best Actor (Mortensen), Best Supporting Actor (Ali), Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing
About: We are coming to the final group of nominees for me to preview. This includes not only some of the ones I liked best, but the ones I think have the best shot. Both things are true of "Green Book." It's a good movie, and one of the few in this group of Best Picture nominees that has the most broad appeal. That can help a film win the biggest prize in a field that has as many polarizing choices as this. Remember, the way folks vote for Best Picture now is to rank all eight films from one to eight. It's the film with the highest average that wins. That means a film could not be No. 1 for anyone, but could be high enough for everyone that it pulls it out. I think "Green Book" feels like that kind of film. But time will tell. What about the rest? Well in the Original Screenplay category it faces competition from "Roma" and "The Favourite." It beat them at the Golden Globes, but since there there has been some controversy surrounding Nick Vallelonga, and that could cost it votes. It still has a chance, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it topped in that category. In the Best Actor race, Mortensen is good, but his is a brutally stacked category. Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale and the favorite, Rami Malek, would all seem to have a better shot. In the Supporting Actor category, though there are some good nominees, I think Ali is the favorite and should win. So, if nothing else, I think the film walks away with at least one award. While I haven't loved all the films nominated in this category, I enjoyed "Green Book." It was in my Top 10 for the year, and I could easily see it winning the biggest prize, even if it's not my favorite of this group of nominees.
Rating: PG-13 for thematic content, language including racial epithets, smoking, some violence and suggestive material.
Verdict: Four stars out of four.

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