Mona Lisa (1986)

Mona Lisa: Directed by Neil Jordan. With Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane. A man recently released from prison manages to get a job driving a call girl from customer to customer.

“u0026quot;Mona Lisau0026quot; is a moving and memorable combination of the British crime film and the character study, produced by George Harrisonu0026#39;s company Handmade Films, and serves as a showcase for some very impressive performances. Top billed Bob Hoskins, in particular, in his Best Actor Academy Award nominated performance, is the person we follow through a convincing depiction of the seamy underbelly of London, a land populated by pimps, prostitutes, and mobsters such as the nasty Mortwell, played by Michael Caine. Hoskinsu0026#39;s George is a low level mob member getting out of prison after spending seven years there, emerging into a world unfamiliar to him. Heu0026#39;s given the initially thankless task of acting as chauffeur for high class prostitute Simone, played by the lovely and amazing Cathy Tyson. But before very long, they start warming up to each other, and the balance of the movie charts their evolving relationship. Ultimately George decides to do Cathy a favour by finding a long lost acquaintance of hers, but this leads to less than ideal circumstances for all involved. Director Neil Jordan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David Leland, has created a compelling if deliberately paced drama thatu0026#39;s much more character driven than action oriented, although there are some brief bursts of violence here and there. The film also has quite the sense of humour at times, much of it coming from the engaging Robbie Coltrane as Georgeu0026#39;s good friend Thomas. Thomas likes to create art using plastic spaghetti (!), and there is a nice light touch brought to all scenes with Hoskins and Coltrane, which prevents this story from ever being too much of a downer, although for the most part u0026quot;Mona Lisau0026quot; is grim and gritty stuff, with fairy tale and film noir elements emphasized. By the end, George realizes how much heu0026#39;s been manipulated by his femme fatale Simone. Jordan completely pulls us into this vivid environment, and gets nice supporting performances from Kate Hardie as Cathy, Zoe Nathenson as Jeannie, and Sammi Davis as May, as well as a sufficiently slimy portrayal by Clarke Peters (u0026#39;The Wireu0026#39;) as vicious pimp Anderson. (Trivia note: look for Kenny Baker, always to be best known as R2-D2 in the u0026quot;Star Warsu0026quot; franchise, as a boardwalk busker.) Fine music by Michael Kamen is a plus, as well as soundtrack selections including Nat King Coleu0026#39;s performances of u0026quot;When I Fall in Loveu0026quot; and the title tune. Worth seeing for fans of the crime film and of the cast u0026amp; crew, u0026quot;Mona Lisau0026quot; is potent entertainment. Eight out of 10.”