We watched this last night and it’s definitely the best movie we’ve seen all year, probably the last few years.
Viggo Mortensen was nominated for Best Actor for his performance in this movie and it’s apparent why. He completely disappears into the role, with no remnant of Aragorn, or Captain Fantastic anywhere on screen. You forget who you are even watching.
Mahershala Ali did win an Academy Award for his performance, which is reserved, powerful, intriguing, and believable all at once. I’ve only seen Ali portray villains before, and I had forgotten about my previous conception of him within the first few scenes.
The chemistry between the two actors is remarkable, and they play off each other very well throughout the movie. We found the movie to have a perfect blend of seriousness, humor, heartbreak, and triumph. The script is great, the acting superb, the directing stellar, and the music is flat out amazing.
The movie doesn’t pull punches with the overt racism of the South during that era. The pair - genius musician, and street smart bodyguard - encounter multiple dangerous situations. They save each other, both literally and figuratively, throughout the movie.
Overall I can’t praise this movie enough. It is an outstanding accomplishment, and deserved every award that it won. Check it out!
Afaik Dr. Shirley was mostly estranged from his family, and actual recorded interviews from Dr. Shirley, and quotes from friends substantiate the person who was depicted in the movie, and the friendship between Tony and Dr. Shirley. Of course Ali will apologize to the family because discounting them would be terrible PR, but I’ve looked into it since posting this and I can’t find anything to substantiate the complaints of the haters, including the family.
Edit: here’s an example. The family claimed that Dr. Shirley and Tony Lip were never friends, and only had an employer employee relationship. Welp, here’s a quote from Dr. Shirley himself, as reported by Time Magazine
I should also point out that even if it’s heavily dramatized as almost all “true stories” are, it doesn’t change the accomplishment of the movie as a stand-alone piece of work. It’s an excellent movie, even if it’s not entirely accurate.
I don’t mean to say that you can’t enjoy the film, I’m just adding backstory according to the people that knew the real life person.