After “Green Book” won the Oscar for Best Picture, I decided it was time to check it out. I don’t trust the Oscars much, but I’d heard good things about the movie.
I’d also read that it was kind of an all-male “Driving Miss Daisy,” which won the Best Picture Oscar in 1989. That worried me a bit because it’s probably not a coincidence when you tally up the Best Picture choices over the decades. Safety over edginess has usually been the philosophy.
Shawn Ryan“Green Book” wasn’t bad. Entirely predictable, but with excellent performances from Best Actor nominee Viggo Mortensen and Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala Ali. I left the theater having enjoyed my time spent there. I can’t say, though, whether it should’ve won Best Picture. I only saw “Roma” and “Black Panther” from the list of nominees, and I thought “Green Book” was better than those two.
Through the years, I’ve had my ups and downs with the Oscars when it comes to Best Picture. Some years I think the picks are spot on; other years I think they couldn’t be worse choices even if they were the only films made that year.
Spot on: “On the Waterfront,” “The Godfather” and “The Godfather: Part II,” “Platoon,” “Schindler’s List,” “Moonlight,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (even though it honestly was an award for the entire film trilogy).