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The story
Tony Lip, a bouncer in 1962, is hired to drive pianist Don Shirley on a tour through the Deep South in the days when African Americans, forced to find alternate accommodations and services due to segregation laws below the Mason-Dixon Line, relied on a guide called The Negro Motorist Green Book.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer77%Fresh#87 of 98 winnersIMDb8.2707K votes#17 of 98 winners
Metacritic69/ 100#84 of 93 winners
TMDB8.2/ 10
Famous lines
So if I'm not black enough and if I'm not white enough and if I'm not man enough then tell me, Tony, what am I!?
You never win with violence, Tony. You only win when you maintain your dignity.
The world is full of lonely people afraid to make the first move.
Rich white people pay me to play piano for them because it makes them feel cultured. But as soon as I step off that stage, I go right back to being just another negro to them.
Whatever you do, do it 100%. When you work, work. When you laugh, laugh. When you eat, eat like it's your last meal.
Mmm. I think this is the best Kentucky Fried Chicken I ever had. But I guess it's fresher down here, right?
Anyone can sound like Beethoven or Joe Pan or them other guys you said. But your music, what you do? Only you can do that!
Don Shirley: I'm about to embark on a concert tour in the Deep South. What other experience do you have?
Tony Lip: Public relations.
Tony Lip: Who said liar? I said bullshit artist!
Don Shirley: And what's the difference?
Tony Lip: 'Cause I don't lie! Ever!
Buon natale. Thank you for sharing your husband with me.
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- Steven Spielberg reportedly watched the film five times in two weeks, calling it "his favorite buddy movie since Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," and brought it to DreamWorks after Focus Features passed on it.Wikipedia · Release
- Robert Plant picked much of the soundtrack. On a double date, Peter Farrelly asked him for little-known songs of the era, and Plant played him tracks on YouTube while their partners stepped outside to smoke.Wikipedia · Music
- Spike Lee, whose BlacKkKlansman was also nominated, tried to leave the Dolby Theatre when Green Book won and turned his back during the speech. He said it felt like "the ref made a bad call."Wikipedia · Critical response
- Viggo Mortensen had to gain 40 to 50 pounds to play Tony Lip, the Italian-American bouncer who drove pianist Don Shirley through the Deep South in 1962.Wikipedia · Production
- Composer Kris Bowers taught Mahershala Ali basic piano and was the stand-in whenever close-ups of hands playing were needed.Wikipedia · Production
- Don Shirley's brother Maurice said Tony Lip was an employee, not a friend. In audio from the 2010 documentary Lost Bohemia, though, Shirley himself said, "We never had an employer/employee relationship."Wikipedia · Criticism from Shirley's relatives
- Green Book was a surprise hit in China, where it debuted to $17.3 million and immediately became the country's second highest-grossing Best Picture winner behind Titanic.Wikipedia · Box office
- Green Book became the fifth film to win Best Picture without a Best Director nomination, after Wings, Grand Hotel, Driving Miss Daisy, and Argo.Wikipedia · Accolades
- Shirley's real cellist, Jüri Täht, was surprised to find himself replaced by a fictional character, Oleg, and dismayed that Oleg was made Russian when Täht was an Estonian whose family had fled the USSR.Wikipedia · Criticism from Shirley's relatives
- Made for $23 million, Green Book grossed about $321.8 million worldwide; Deadline calculated its net profit at $106 million.Wikipedia · Box office