Patti Perret | Universal Pictures

"Green Book," the movie based on a story from the life of New Jersey "Sopranos" actor Tony "Lip" Vallelonga, has claimed the Golden Globes for best picture in the musical or comedy category and best screenplay in a motion picture. Mahershala Ali also won a best supporting actor award for his role in the film.

But the screenplay and best picture wins are not sitting well with those who have been critical of the movie. As filmmakers accepted the awards on Sunday, the response was swift on social media.

"Green Book" is about a trip Vallelonga took to the Deep South in 1962 when he worked as a driver for pianist Don Shirley. In the story, Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen), serves as a protector to Shirley (Ali), who is black, as he faces the perils of the Jim Crow era on a concert tour. The tile comes from the "Negro Motorist Green Book," a guide that African Americans used starting in 1936 in order to identify locations where they could safely stay and eat.

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A son tells his father's story

Lip, who lived in the Bronx at the time and worked as a bouncer at the Copacabana, went on to become an actor who had a recurring role on "The Sopranos" as New York Mafia boss Carmine Lupertazzi.

While "Green Book" has generated awards season buzz -- having won an audience award at the Toronto Film Festival among other accolades -- the movie, told from Lip's perspective, has also been the subject of criticism from those who have called it a "white savior" story. Members of Shirley's family have spoken out against the film.

Vallelonga's son, Nick, who grew up in Paramus, co-wrote the screenplay with friend Brian Hayes Currie and the film's director, Peter Farrelly ("There's Something About Mary"). Mortensen spent time with Nick and the Vallelonga family, visiting his brother Frank's restaurant, Tony Lip's Italian Restaurant & Pizza in Franklin Lakes, to learn more about Lip.

"My father, he blessed us with this story," Nick Vallelonga said, accepting the screenplay award with Farrelly and Currie, calling the moment "very surreal."

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Patti Perret | Universal Pictures

Complaints from the family of 'a brilliant man'

The film, which bested "Crazy Rich Asians," "The Favourite," "Mary Poppins Returns" and "Vice" in the musical or comedy category, claimed a total of five Globe nominations, including best director for Farrelly, who lost to "Roma" director Aflonso Cuaron. Mortensen also got a nod for best actor in the musical or comedy category, but lost to Christian Bale, star of "Vice."

Accepting the supporting actor award, Ali thanked Farrelly and Vallelonga and called Shirley "a brilliant man."

"I want to thank him for his passion and virtuosity and the dignity he carried himself with that inspired me everyday," Ali said.

But Shirley's niece, Carole Shirley Kimble, told NPR she was disappointed by the film.

"There was no due diligence done to afford my family and my deceased uncle the respect of properly representing him, his legacy, his worth and the excellence in which he operated, the excellence in which he lived," she said. "It's once again a depiction of a white man's version of a black man's life."

(Pictured from left above: Viggo Mortensen; Linda Cardellini; Lou Venere, Nick Vallelonga's uncle, playing his father Anthony Venere; Nick Vallelonga, the screenwriter of the film and Tony's son; Frank Vallelonga, Nick's brother, playing their father's brother Rudy Vallelonga; and Nick/Frank's uncle Rudy Vallelonga, who played Tony and Rudy's father, Nicola Vallelonga.)

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Patti Perret | Universal Pictures

'It was what he wanted'

Vallelonga and Farrelly have rejected the "white savior" criticism, and Vallelonga told NJ Advance Media that Shirley expressly asked him not to contact his family for the film. In the movie, the pianist is estranged from his family. His brother, Maurice Shirley, disputes that claim.

"He was a very private man and he controlled how he wanted to be represented," Nick Vallelonga said. "I respected his wishes. It was what he wanted."

To write the screenplay, he drew upon letters his father wrote to his mother, Dolores (Linda Cardellini), during his tour with Shirley, as well as interviews he recorded with each of the men before their death.

He said Shirley would only permit him to make a film about his tour with Lip after he died. Both Shirley, 86, and the elder Vallelonga, 82, died in 2013.

The often lighthearted interplay between Lip and Shirley on the road may account for the film's categorization as a comedy, but the perils of traveling through the South and Lip's recognition of his own racism would seem more suited to the drama category.

Meanwhile, the award for best picture in the drama category went to "Bohemian Rhapsody," a biopic of the band Queen which depicts its famous performance at Live Aid. The film was directed by Bryan Singer, who grew up in West Windsor. Singer was fired from the project and replaced by Dexter Fletcher (though Singer retained the director credit) after he reportedly failed to show up on set for an extended period of time. The director has been the subject of allegations of sexual assault, though he has denied the claims are true.

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Patti Perret | Universal Pictures

'This story, when I heard it, gave me hope'

The wrap-up music began to play as Farrelly accepted the award for best picture in a musical or comedy. He waved away the cue to read from a prepared statement.

"No, turn that off," he said, signaling to the awards show's producers.

"Don Shirley was a great man and an underappreciated genius who couldn't play the music he wanted to play simply because of the color of his skin," Farrelly said after thanking the cast, including Mortensen, Ali and Cardellini, along with Octavia Spencer, an executive producer of the film.

Farrelly continued:

He went on to create his own genre of music. It sounds so beautiful that it still resonates today. Tony Vallelonga came from an immigrant family in the Bronx and from a culture that didn't value diversity or individuality, yet during that trip with Dr. Shirley, he grew and evolved more than most families do over several generations. This story, when I heard it, gave me hope. And I wanted to share that hope with you. Because we're still living in divided times, maybe more so than ever. And that's who this movie is for. It's for everybody. If Don Shirley and Tony Vallelonga can find common ground, we all can. All we have to do is talk and to not judge people by their differences, but look for what we have in common, and we have a lot in common. We all want the same thing. We want love, we want happiness, we want to be treated equally, and that's not such a bad thing.

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Congratulations to Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, and Peter Farrelly - Best Screenplay - Motion Picture - Green Book (@greenbookmovie). - #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/CtzvfwbyTF — Golden Globe Awards (@goldenglobes) January 7, 2019

Criticism on social media

Viewers reacted to the "Green Book" wins on Twitter. Some praised Ali's performance while remaining critical of the screenplay, and some were not happy with what the Globe wins could portend for the Oscars.

Others had a problem with Farrelly's best picture acceptance speech, saying it grossly simplified racism.

Here's a cross-section of the response.

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Of course three white men wrote this movie pic.twitter.com/hhJc3352kQ — Ira (@ira) January 7, 2019

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if green book sweeps everything that is some big 2018 energy that should not be dragged into 2019 — rachel syme (@rachsyme) January 7, 2019

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Green Book doesn't seem like the wave but good for Mahershala nevertheless — Craig Bro Dude (@CraigSJ) January 7, 2019

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DID GREEN BOOK JUST...... TIME TO MUTE THE TV — lucy™ (@iconicaesthetic) January 7, 2019

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green book winning for best screenplay when the favourite, roma, if beale street could talk was in the same category pic.twitter.com/FK9Kb747Dn — carol (@filmsbygerwig) January 7, 2019

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"all we have to do is talk and not judge people by their differences" green book solved it folks! — hunter harris (@hunteryharris) January 7, 2019

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Imagine thinking the script and dialogue of Green Book is better than Beale Street and The Favourite #GoldenGlobes — Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) January 7, 2019

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green book won best screenplay pic.twitter.com/ZxtXOVSANl — chelsea (@kaluuyaz) January 7, 2019

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Green Book was such a revolutionary movie in 1968. — Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) January 7, 2019

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The Greenbook actor/supporting actor split is... curious. — roxane gay (@rgay) January 7, 2019

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Oh HELL no to this Green Book screenplay award. We're taking to the streets!!! — R. Eric Thomas (@oureric) January 7, 2019

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guys, i think green book fixed racism — alex (@alex_abads) January 7, 2019

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great optics for Green Book, a film about race relations in America pic.twitter.com/pJT1um3gy2 — Kathryn VanArendonk (@kvanaren) January 7, 2019

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Pretty bold for that Green Book speech to hinge on how INSPIRING Don Shirley's story was when Don Shirley's family keeps insisting that wasn't his story at all — Caroline Darya Framke (@carolineframke) January 7, 2019

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every generation gets the CRASH it deserves. #GoldenGlobes — david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) January 7, 2019

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The Golden Globes' love for Green Book is Exhibit A why it doesn't matter that the HFPA is a small & unrepresentative Hollywood group. Every Oscar voter is watching, and you can't buy publicity like this. — Steven Zeitchik (@ZeitchikWaPo) January 7, 2019

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I just came back on twitter to tell you that white people and black people just talking to each other more will not end systemic racism.



ok bye.#GreenBook #GoldenGlobes — Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) January 7, 2019

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Excuse me????



Green Book over ROMA?? HFPA YOU ARE CANCELED. #GoldenGlobes — Yolanda Machado (@SassyMamainLA) January 7, 2019

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THERE IS A REASON YOU DONT SEE DON SHIRLEYS FAMILY ON THE STAGE WITH GREEN BOOK, BUT YOU SEE THE OTHER MANS. #GoldenGIobes — George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) January 7, 2019

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More on 'Green Book'

How 'Green Book,' the film about N.J. 'Sopranos' actor Tony Lip, became an Oscar contender

Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @AmyKup or on Facebook.