History Film / GreenBook

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: When Don and Tony are arrested, they're released because the former is friends with Bobby Kennedy, though he doesn't feel proud about using said connections to get out of legal trouble.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: When Don and Tony are arrested, they're released because the former is friends with Bobby Kennedy.

* UngratefulBastard: After Tony bribes some cops to let Don go after the latter has been arrested for his same-sex dalliance in a public pool, Don isn't very happy about this and accuses Tony of "rewarding" those cops and only thinking about himself. Tony, in turn, calls him out using the exact Trope as he just saved Don's life the second time.

* BigEater: Tony. Hardly a scene goes by where he isn't stuffing his face, including while driving and Don remarks upon it. Near the beginning he gets into a hot-dog eating contest with a noticeably portlier gentleman... and ''wins.'' This culminates in him eating an entire pizza by folding it in half.

** In the beginning of the road trip, Tony explains that a friend of his nicknames Pittsburgh "Tittsburgh", because the women there are supposed to have bigger breasts than elsewhere. At the end of the trip, Tony tells Don that something has been eating at him the whole trip: Tittsburgh was a major disappointment.

* ButNotTooGay: [[spoiler: Don remains firmly in the closet through the whole movie, and his attraction to men is never explored beyond him being caught naked with one at a pool]]. He does however, show elements of CampGay when very, very drunk.

* DeepSouth: Much of the film is set in the Deep South during the 1960s, where something like the titular Green Book was a necessity for African-Americans to travel safely.

* DirtyCop: This works in Don and Tony's favor, as they're able to bribe a couple of cops who [[spoiler: catch Don having sex with another man, which was illegal at the time, into letting him go]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The only time we see [[spoiler: Don]] behave in any way "stereotypically gay" is when he is deeply drunk. But a short time later, he is placed under arrest for something he did with another naked man while in the pool.

* HiddenDepths: Tony appears to be a casually racist, unscrupulous character but ultimately a loving family man. Don requests an interview because his name came up around town that he's a good bodyguard, and despite his racist behavior and somewhat sloppy driving he performs the job particularly well. The real kicker happens when [[spoiler: Don is caught with another man and Tony doesn't flinch at the reveal of his sexuality. This surprises Don, and Tony explains that working New York nightclubs made him accustomed to the issue]].

* IncompatibleOrientation: The waitress at the Orange Bird in Birmingham, who [[spoiler: flirts with Don but is barking up the wrong tree]].

* MacGuffinTitle: The title's "Green Book" refers to a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Negro_Motorist_Green_Book real publication]] that was made for African-Americans to travel with, listing establishments where they would be safe from prejudice. One such edition of the Green Book is seen in the movie.
* MenAreUncultured: Played with between Tony and Don. The former is quite boorish and unpolished, while Don is a cultured artist [[spoiler: who is apparently not heterosexual]].
* NeverTrustATrailer: "Green Book" is short for "The Negro Motorist Green Book", a travel safety guide for African-Americans visiting the Deep South on where to find friendly places where they could eat or stay during the period of the film. However, this only gets mentioned briefly in the film, and used once. While the difficulties Don faces as a black person in the South do feature, most of it's not really about that, and this is one source of criticism.

** Tony actually subverts this expectation when Don [[spoiler: is caught cavorting with another man. Tony handles the situation gracefully and tells him that he's "been working in New York City nightclubs for years", implying that he's much more accepting of LGBT people than might be expected from a straight man from his time.]]

* SmarterThanYouLook: Tony is every bit the coarse, uncultured, working-class boor that he appears to be... and also shows himself to be uncannily talented in talking and manipulating his way out of dangerous situations and generally getting people to do what he wants. As he describes it, he's a good "bullshit artist".

--> '''Don''': That's like clanging a cowbell at the end of Shostakovich's Seventh.
--> '''Tony''': [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Right, and that's good]]?
--> '''Don''': [[SincerityMode It's perfect]].

* TokenGoodTeammate: The youngest of the three cops in Mississippi, who doesn't display the racism of his two colleagues, is fairly professional during the traffic stop and does point out that Don is entitled to a phone call [[spoiler: (which he uses to call Bobby Kennedy)]] while the other two cops seemed content to ignore this request.
* TwoferTokenMinority: Don appears to be one when [[spoiler: he's caught in the pool with another man]].

* WhiteMansBurden: Don is successful black artist, but he has no family and no friends. Moreover, he wants to go on tour in the Deep South, where he will encounter many problems. Tony will help him to overcome the problems during his tour, but more importantly he will help him to develop human relationships (Tony becomes friends with Don; he also advises Don to write a letter to his estranged brother). In the beginning, Tony helps Don only because of the money he will get, but in the end he helps him selflessly, because he regards Don as a friend. {{Zigzagged}}, because Tony is OnlyInItForTheMoney in the beginning, and because Don also helps Tony to overcome his prejudices. Don's performing partners also suggest that Don took the southern states tour at his own risk specifically to help normalize black performers.
* TheWhitestBlackGuy: Don, despite wanting to break barriers with his tour, finds himself disconnected from other black people and the hardships they face in the South. As a result, he remains distant from the other tenants of most the hotels he stays in and regularly puts himself into dangerous situations by assuming access to whites-only establishments. This led to Shirley's living family decrying the film as a "symphony of lies", as they said the real Shirley had many black friends (mostly among his fellow musicians), and was close with them.
* YouAreACreditToYourRace: Don receives much of this sentiment from his white audiences and bookers. He positively hates it, especially since they are quite happy to listen to him but will still treat him like any other black person - i.e like dirt - when he's not playing, and won't let him use the facilities or eat in the same establishment.

* TheSixties: The film is set in 1962. A few reminders of this are dropped throughout the story, such as the Cadillac Tony drives Don around in being a brand new 1962 model and a cinema marquee advertising ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' during one scene.

* InUniverseNickname: Tony invariably calls Don "Doc" informally or "Doctor Shirley" professionally, accurate but unnecessary once he finds out that Shirley is NotThatKindOfDoctor.

* UngratefulBastard: After Tony bribes some cops to let Don go after the latter has been arrested for his same-sex dalliance in a public sauna, Don isn't very happy about this and accuses Tony of "rewarding" those cops and only thinking about himself. Tony, in turn, calls him out using the Trope Namer as he just saved his life the second time.

* DirtyCop: This works in Don and Tony's favor, as their able to bribe a couple of cops who [[spoiler: catch Don having sex with another man, which was illegal at the time, into letting him go]].

** Tony has several within the space of a few minutes. First, he steals a gangster's hat and pretends to find it in order to get into the man's good graces and to get a reward. He then proceeds to easily manhandle and beat the shit out of an obnoxious customer, before going home to his family and hiding the hydrant he parked next to with a trash bin. Later, after watching his wife treat two black workers to some drinks, he disposes of the glasses they drank from with disgust. All of this establishes Tony as someone who is tough, cunning and isn't afraid to bend the rules or manipulate others to get what he wants, whilst also showing off a slightly racist side to him.
** Don Shirley is introduced in his affluent apartment above Carnegie Hall (which is decorated with exotic ornaments), while dressed in elegant robes and sitting on a literal wooden throne, showing him to be someone of very high standards of living with a taste for the finer things in life. TruthInTelevision as the real Don Shirley did indeed dress and live like this.

** Tony has several within the space of a few minutes. First, he steals a gangster's hat and pretends to find it in order to get into the man's good graces and to get a reward. He then proceeds to easily manhandle and beat the shit out of an obnoxious customer, before going home to his loving family and hiding the hydrant he parked next to with a trash bin. Later, after watching his wife treat two black workers to some drinks, he disposes of the glasses with disgust. All of this establishes Tony as someone who is tough, cunning and isn't afraid to bend the rules or manipulate others to get what he wants, whilst also showing off a slightly racist and flawed side to him.
** Don Shirley is introduced in his affluent apartment above Carnegie Hall (which is decorated with exotic ornaments), while dressed in elegant robes and sitting on a literal wooden throne, showing him to be someone of very high standards of living with a taste for the finer things in life. TruthInTelevision as the real Don Shirley did actually dress and live like this.

* EverybodyHasStandards: Don is fine with throwing out chicken bones on the streets, but he makes Tony drive back to pick up a paper cup and its plastic he threw out.

* BrandishmentBluff: Played with. When Tony rescues Don from being roughed up in a bar, he first attempts diplomacy to get them both out of there. When the racists brandish a knife, Tony bluffs about being ready to brandish a gun. Ultimately, they don't call his bluff, which is fortunate because a close listen reveals that he ''did'' touch his hand to a weapon. [[spoiler: Sure enough, the gun is later used to scare off some muggers.]]

* BlinkAndYoullMissIt: A close observation when Don tells Tony to put the jade rock back shows him for a split second dropping something on the seat next to him as he gets back in the car. [[spoiler: He's later revealed to have kept the rock, and stealthily hid it where Don couldn't see.]]

* BrandishmentBluff: Played with. When Tony rescues Don from being roughed up in a bar, he first attempts diplomacy to get them both out of there. When the racists brandish a knife, Tony bluffs being about ready to brandish a gun. Ultimately, they don't call his bluff, which is fortunate because a close listen reveals that he ''did'' touch his hand to a weapon.

** On the car ride when Oleg speaks to Don in Polish, Tony mistakes it for German, claiming he was stationed in Germany in the army and could pick up some of what they were saying, later in the film when Tony clinks glasses with Oleg and George he says "Dankeshön" (Thank You in German)

* TheSixties: The film is set in 1962. A few reminders of this are dropped throughout the story, such as the Sedan [=DeVille=] Tony drives Don around in being a brand new 1962 model and a cinema marquee advertising ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' during one scene.