‘Green Book’ hitting rough road

Criticism, controversy surround underdog, Golden Globe winner

The makers of “Green Book,” a feel-good story about a resourceful hustler hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a concert tour through the Deep South in 1962, were riding high, exulting in Golden Globes wins for picture, comedy/musical, Mahershala Ali’s supporting turn and motion picture screenplay.

“If they can find common ground,” said director and co-writer Peter Farrelly, referring to his film’s lead characters, “we all can.”

Three days later, Farrelly found himself on common ground with the film’s co-writer Nick Vallelonga, both of whom became enmeshed in controversy over past behavior. For Farrelly, it was excerpts from a 1998 Newsweek profile in which he talked about repeatedly pulling out his penis on film sets as a dirty practical joke. Vallelonga was castigated for a 2015 tweet supporting Donald Trump’s false claim that Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the destruction of the World Trade Center. Shortly afterward, Vallelonga deleted his Twitter account.

The latest controversy continues the roller-coaster ride fro “Green Book” through the awards season. The movie premiered to little advance hype at the Toronto Film Festival in September, becoming an underdog recipient of the event’s People’s Choice award, an honor that has gone to past Oscar winners like “Slumdog Millionaire,” “12 Years a Slave” and “The King’s Speech.”

But some critics immediately slammed “Green Book” as yet another Hollywood movie about American racism that frames its story from a “white savior” perspective. That assessment picked up steam in November when Shirley’s relatives spoke out against the movie, claiming they had not been consulted before or during production, and asserting that Shirley himself did not want a film made about his life. His last living brother, Maurice, said he wouldn’t see “Green Book” because it was “full of lies.”

“Green Book,” which many had pegged for breakout commercial success, opened in limited release to a surprisingly tepid per-screen average under $13,000. The film expanded over Thanksgiving weekend in more than 1,000 theaters to middling business and has grossed a respectable enough $36 million since its release.

Awards-season voters have responded with more enthusiasm. In addition to the Globes, “Green Book” won the National Board of Review’s best picture honor and was named one of the year’s 10 best movies by the American Film Institute. The guilds have followed suit, with the film earning prestigious nominations from the actors, producers, directors and writers groups.

Now with Vallelonga’s tweet and Farrelly’s past actions resurfacing, many in the film industry are reacting with a mixture of anger, fear and a curiosity about the timing of the revelations, which emerged the week that film academy members are voting on nominations for this year’s Oscars.

“Every year, it’s the same thing,” said one Oscar-nominated producer, who asked for anonymity because of the subject’s sensitive nature. “I’m not saying these aren’t legitimate concerns. But when they drop when people are voting, it makes it look more like a take-down than a genuine interest in debate and discussion.”

Farrelly issued a statement saying: “True. I was an idiot. I did this decades ago and I thought I was being funny, and the truth is, I’m embarrassed and it makes me cringe now. I’m deeply sorry.” Vallelonga did not respond to requests for comment.

But “Green Book” has many champions within the African-american community, including consulting producer Octavia Spencer, Quincy Jones and activist singer/actor Harry Belafonte, who called Farrelly after seeing the film and wrote a statement, saying, in part: “I knew Don Shirley, and, in fact, had an office across the street from his at Carnegie Hall, and I experienced much of what he did at the same time. This movie is accurate, it is true, and it’s a wonderful movie that everyone should see.

“The few people who appear to be objecting to the film’s depiction of the time and the man are dead wrong, and, if the basis of their resentment stems from it having been written and/or directed by someone who isn’t African American, I disagree with them even more,” Belafonte continued. “There are many perspectives from which to tell the same story and all can be true.”