Plot
In the spring of 1962, in the Bronx, Italian-American bouncer Tony Lip searches for new employment while the Copacabana is closed for renovations. He is invited to an interview with Don Shirley, an African American pianist in need of a driver for his eight-week concert tour through the Midwest and Deep South.
Don hires Tony on the strength of his references. They embark with plans to return to New York City on Christmas Eve. Don's record label gives Tony a copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book, a guide for African American travelers that contains the addresses of those motels, restaurants, and filling stations that would serve them in the Jim Crow South.
Tony and Don clash as Tony feels uncomfortable being asked to act with more refinement, while haughty Don is displeased by Tony's uncouth habits. As the tour progresses, Tony is impressed with Don's talent on the piano and becomes increasingly appalled by the discriminatory treatment Don receives from his hosts and the general public when he is not on stage.
In Louisville, Kentucky, a group of white men beat Don and threaten him at gunpoint before Tony rescues him. He instructs Don not to go out without him for the rest of the tour.
Throughout the journey, Don helps Tony write eloquent letters to his wife, which deeply move her. Tony encourages Don to get in touch with his own estranged brother, but Don is hesitant, observing he has become isolated by his professional life and achievements. Don is later found in a homosexual encounter with a white man in a public shower, and Tony, unfazed, bribes the police officers at the scene to prevent his arrest.
In Mississippi, the two are arrested after police officers pull them over late at night in a sundown town, and Tony punches one after being insulted. While in jail, Don asks to phone his lawyer, but calls Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, who pressures the governor and police to release them.
Once they resume traveling, Don reprimands Tony for his actions, and a heated argument erupts regarding race relations and meritocracy, with Don expressing frustration at feeling rejected by the black community due to his mannerisms while the white community either mistreats him or uses him to make themselves look open-minded. They eventually find a hotel for the night and reconcile.
On the night of Don's final performance in Birmingham, Alabama, he is refused entry into the whites-only dining room of the country club where he is due to perform. Tony threatens the manager, and Don refuses to play unless they serve him in the room with his audience. Eventually, Don gives Tony the choice on whether or not he plays, to smooth tensions. Tony chooses his friendship, refusing bribery from the manager, possibly terminating his contract with the record company that demands Don does not miss a show. Tony and Don leave the venue and instead eat at a black blues club, where Don joins the band on piano. As the pair leave the club, Tony senses and scares off two patrons with a firearm who were intending to ambush them for Don's money, which he had displayed earlier, an action which visibly startles Don.
The pair head north, attempting to get home by Christmas Eve, but are caught in a blizzard. They are then once again pulled over by a police officer. Worried they will receive the same treatment as earlier, both are surprised when it turns out the officer had only pulled them over due to a flat tire, which he kindly helps them fix. Continuing back to New York, Tony, for reasons of sleep deprivation, decides he is unable to continue driving, meaning he will miss Christmas dinner. Don, not wanting this to happen, drives for him, with Tony sleeping in the backseat.
Tony invites Don to have dinner with his family, but Don declines. At the party, a relative of Tony makes a racial remark, which Tony objects to, leading to the relative's acquiescence. Sitting alone at home, Don changes his mind and returns to Tony's, where he receives a warm welcome from Tony's extended family.
The end title cards show real-life photos of Don and Tony, explaining Don continued to tour and create music, while Tony went back working at the Copacabana, and they remained friends until dying months apart in 2013.
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