“Green Book” Wins People’s Choice Award at TIFF 2018

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in "Green Book"

If you’re looking for a movie to root for at this year’s Oscars, Toronto International Film Festival gave us several amazing choices, including Green Book. This tale of an unlikely friendship asserted itself as an Academy Award contender after winning the People’s Choice Award at TIFF.

Green Book wasn’t even in the picture before this festival wrapped up, and movies like A Star Is Born and First Man were all people could talk about. Oscar race shifted once TIFF audience picked this buddy movie as their favorite since winners of this award often posed a serious threat during the Oscar ceremony.

Previous honorees of this award were Best Picture winners Chariots of Fire, American Beauty, Slumdog Millionaire, The King’s Speech and 12 Years a Slave. Additional 11 People’s Choice Award winners ended up scoring Best Picture nomination in the past. The first and second runner-up also did pretty great, and that honor belonged to the movies If Beale Street Could Talk and Roma this time around.

We’ll have to wait until November 21 to see if Green Book really deserved this prestigious award. That’s the date when this dramedy directed by Peter Farrelly hits the theaters. It centers on a working-class bouncer, who becomes the driver of a classical pianist during his tour through the 1960s American South. It stars Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali, who received an Oscar for Moonlight.