"Surprise! The Toronto Film Festival audiences have voted for their favorite film. It was not Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in 'A Star is Born'..."

"... or Ryan Gosling in 'First Man' or Michael Moore’s anti Trump doc 'Fahrenheit 11-9.' The winner of the Audience Award was Peter Farrelly’s 'Green Book,' a kind of 'Driving Miss Daisy' for the new generation. Viggo Mortensen stars as an Italian bouncer in the South, circa the early 60s, who has to drive around a famous musician, played by Oscar winner Mahershala Ali. They use the 'Green Book' which is a guide to restaurants and motels were blacks were allowed... Farrelly is usually not associated with award winning films... His credits include 'Dumb and Dumber,' 'There’s Something About Mary,' and 'Shallow Hal.'"

Writes Roger Friedman at Showbiz 411.

I like the idea of rising to prestige through comedy, so good for Farrelly.

Mahershala Ali won an Oscar for "Moonlight," which I didn't see, because I hardly see anything anymore, but he was in at least one movie I've seen, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which dates back to the days when I saw almost all the movies that got excellent reviews.

Viggo Mortensen, on the other hand. I love him based on "Captain Fantastic."

Here's the trailer:



So it's a racial flip where the white character is low class and the black character is rich and polished. But as with "Driving Miss Daisy," the black character elevates the white character. What's unusual in the broad scheme of Hollywood history is that the rich character elevates the poor character.

Anyway, it looks good, even though I was disappointed to see Viggo Mortensen's sexiness submerged into a brutish character... and yet, that worked like mad for Marlon Brando in "A Streetcar Named Desire." But I like my Viggo in Captain Fantastic form. Here he is talking to Conan O'Brien about my favorite movement in "Captain Fantastic," when he's completely naked and casually sipping coffee in a public campground and — to someone who stares — says "It's just a penis. Every man has one. We're all animals of the earth."