It is a movie about the great pianist Don Shirley and his tour to the southern states of the USA that lasted during the last 2 months of 1962.
The movie is directed by Peter Farrelly, who is the elder brother of the Farrelly Brothers, known with their hit movies "Dumb and Dumber" and "There's Something About Mary". Mahershala Ali plays Don Shirley and Viggo Mortensen plays the role of Tony Vallelonga as his tour helper/driver as well as his bodyguard.
So the movie is based on actual events and the story of the film has been written by Tony's son.
Both leading artists really play their roles very well and they surely give the viewers a movie fun to watch. The script and the events depicted in the movie are sometimes funny, sometimes dramatic but often times tragic, especially when the viewers witness the extent of preposterous racism in the south states.
It is a sort of a road movie where they travel to beautiful pastoral places in the south but the real contrast is how Don Shirley is welcomed in those beautiful towns.
Maybe one failing I sensed during the film was that the real actual harshness I believe to be experienced by African Americans was much more intense that is shown in the movie. I don't know what message the director wished to give but seems a bit soft message to me. And yet again, that's just my feeling...
Anyhow overall quite a good movie, well written and well played. If you want to catch a good movie these days, might be one of the best alternatives.
Here is the great Don Shirley himself playing the "Man I Love"...
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