National Board of Review names ‘Green Book’ best film
Inoneofthefirstina paradeofawardsseason honors, the National Board of Review tapped the feelgood road-trip drama “Green Book” as the best film of the year, with the best actor prize goingtooneofthemovie’s stars, Viggo Mortensen.
The NBR awards, announced Tuesday, gave “Green Book’s” Oscar hopes ajolt.thefilm,directedby Peter Farrelly, was a hit at thetorontointernational Film Festival. But in two weeks of release, it has struggledtolatchonatthe box office, and some critics have called its portrayal of race relations old-fashioned andcriticizeditforrelying on “white savior” tropes.
It stars Mahershala Ali as classical pianist Don Shirley, who tours the Deep South in1962witharacistitalianAmerican driver played by Mortensen.
Bradley Cooper’s lauded remake“astarisborn” also took several top awards,includingbest director for Cooper, best actressforladygagaand best supporting actor for Sam Elliott.
Barry Jenkins’ James Baldwin adaptation “If
Beale Street Could Talk” took prizes for Jenkins’ screenplay and for
Regina King’s supporting performance.
Though sometimes called an Oscar harbinger, the Nationalboardofreview,a 109-year-oldorganizationof film enthusiasts, academics and professionals, has typically deviated from eventual best picture winners.lastyearitchose Steven Spielberg’s “The Post.” Before that, its top winners were “Manchester bythesea,”“madmax: Fury Road” and “A Most Violent Year.”
On Monday night, the Gotham Awards, which honor independent film, selectedchloezhao’s“the Rider” as its best feature film of the year.
Critics groups will soon start weighing in with their picks, starting with the New York Film Critics Circle on Thursday.
Otherprizesfromthe Nationalboardofreview included best ensemble for the cast of the romanticcomedy hit “Crazy Rich Asians”; best documentary to the popular Ruth Bader Ginsberg chronicle “RBG”; bestscreenplaytopaul Schrader’s “First Reformed”; best animated feature to “Incredibles 2”; and best foreignlanguagefilmto “Coldwar.”