Green Book tells the story of a classic Italian bouncer type named Tony Lip (Mortensen) living in The Bronx who gets hired to drive around African-American world-class pianist Dr. Don Shirley (Ali) on his tour through the deep south back in the 1960’s. Lip runs into financial issues in the beginning of the movie after an incident that occurred outside a New York City club called The Copacabana, where he does odds and ends to secure cash including beating a heavy-set man in a hot dog eating contest for a measly $50. He initially turns down the offer from Dr. Don due to the piano player asking him to do more than just drive (iron his clothes, etc) but then changes his mind after Don calls Dolores and asks if it will be ok for him to be away for several months while he’s on tour.