Mona Lisa (1986)

Want to see it?

Seen it?

0
1
2
3
4
5
Rate this movie.

Buy it now on DVD

Starting at $10.07

Want to buy it?

Write a review

Discuss it

Add to lists

Recommend it

Get recommendations

Watch trailer

Directed by Neil Jordan.

Starring Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane, Kate Hardie, Bob Hoskins, Clarke Peters, Cathy Tyson.

Watch trailer

Bob Hoskins plays George, a tough but basically goodhearted British mob flunky, recently released from prison, where he'd served a term to cover up for his gangster boss (Michael Caine). Still willing to be everyone's doormat, George agrees to act as chauffeur for Simone (Cathy Tyson), a haughty, high-priced call girl. They don't like each other at first, but George begins to fall for her and take a protective interest. She implores him to help her find her only truly friend, a prostitute named Cathy (Kate Hardie). Touched by this devotion, George locates the girl, only to be chagrined to learn that Simone and Cathy are lovers. Hoskins is used and abused by so many people in Mona Lisa that when the worm finally does turn, you feel like cheering--even though it doesn't make him any happier. Director Neil Jordan cowrote this study of underworld mores with David Leland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

[more]

Be the first to review this movie!

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

liked it.

Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa takes the audience on a journey through the paradoxically grimy yet elegant world of London's Soho district. The characters conflict in similar ways to the setting, as classy call girl Simone (Cathy Tyson) and boorish George (Bob Hoskins) are constantly at each other's throats. In an interesting twist on the fish-out-of-water theme, Simone tries to teach George how to behave in polite society, while he tries to show her the truth about her lifestyle. The slimy world of King's Cross is appropriately and convincingly presented through George's empathetically innocent eyes. Eventually, the pair's differences seem less important than the loneliness and desperation that they share. Their doomed love is made all the more poignant by their shared sense of isolation from the worlds that they inhabit. Mona Lisa is elevated by a keen, cutting script that is brutally honest in its character revelation and scorching dialogue. Jordan makes intelligent use of camera angles and lighting to demonize Michael Caine's character, the underworld boss Mortwell. Simone is distant, elusive, enigmatic, and well played by Tyson. Hoskins embraces this complex role with a delicacy and range that must make him the envy of working actors everywhere. There are echoes of Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver in the prostitution-and-redemption themes of the King's Cross scenes, as well as in Hoskins' brave and urgent performance. ~ Dan Jardine, All Movie Guide

Tags: lesbian , criterion , prostituteprostitution , chauffeur , gangster
View all