By Susan Granger
Special to WestportNow“The Green Book” is the fascinating, true story of an unlikely friendship that begins with Dr. Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali), an elegant, educated Jamaican-American classical pianist who lived in an apartment above Manhattan’s Carnegie Hall.

In 1962 when his record company sends him on a concert tour of the Deep South, Dr. Shirley hires a gruff, gluttonous, street-wise bouncer from the Copacabana nightclub to be his driver/road manager.
Known as “Tony Lip” (Viggo Mortensen) because his real name of Vallelonga was difficult to pronounce, Tony is an admittedly racist Italian. Married to Dolores (Linda Cardinelli), they live in the Bronx with their two kids and extended family. Even though this job will take him away for two months, it’s a good payday — and he’ll be home for Christmas.
So chain-smoking Tony hits the road in a turquoise Cadillac with starchy, stoic Dr. Shirley. Along the way, they discover much about one another, overcoming their personal differences while facing the inevitable humiliations and indignities of racial prejudice.