Main Cast: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine, Robbie Coltrane, Kate Hardie, Clarke Peters
Release Year: 1986
Country: IE/UK
Run Time: 104 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
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
Review
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
Sammi Davis - May; Zoe Nathenson - Jeannie; Rod Bedall - Terry; Joe Brown - Dudley; Pauline Melville - Dawn; Dawn Archibald - Girl Prostitute in Club; Kenny Baker - Brighton Busker; Gary Cady - Waiter; Robert Dorning - Hotel Punter; Perry Fenwick - White Pimp; David Halliwell - Devlin; Hossein Karimbeik - Raschid; Helen Martin - Peep Show Girl; G.B. "Zoot" Money - Carpenter; Bill Moore - Brighton Busker; Maggie O'Neill - Girl in Paradise Club; Stephen Persaud - Black Youth in Street; Jack Purvis - Brighton Busker; Raad Raawi - Arab Servant; Richard Strange - Porn shop Man; Alan Talbot - Attendant (Baths); Mandy Winch - Flower Shop Girl; Joan Darling - Roberts; Donna Cannon - Young Prostitute; Jeremy Hardy - Shop Assistant; Geoffrey Larder - Hotel Clerk; Bryan Coleman - Stanley
Credit
Gemma Jackson - Art Director, Susie Figgis - Casting, Louise Frogley - Costume Designer, Ray Corbett - First Assistant Director, Neil Jordan - Director, Lesley Walker - Editor, Michael Kamen - Composer (Music Score), Ray Evans - Songwriter, Genesis - Songwriter, Edward Heman - Songwriter, Jay Livingstone - Songwriter, Lois Burwell - Makeup, Nick Dudman - Makeup, Jamie Leonard - Production Designer, Roger Pratt - Cinematographer, Chris Brown - Producer, Patrick Cassavetti - Producer, Ray Cooper - Producer, George Harrison - Producer, Stephen Woolley - Producer, Denis O'Brien - Producer, Terry Forrestal - Stunts, Neil Jordan - Screenwriter, David Leland - Screenwriter, Ray Noble - Featured Music, Victor Young - Featured Music
George (Hoskins), recently released from prison, is given a cushy job as the driver for a high-class prostitute named Simone (Tyson) by his former boss, Dinny (Michael Caine). As George and Simone find out more about each other, they form a friendship despite possibly conflicting incentives. Central to this theme is Dinny's wish for George to find out as much as he can about one of Simone's 'regulars', a wealthy businessman seen with Dinny on one occasion. George then helps Simone in her quest to find an abused friend from her murky past, and this leads to a violent resolution in the seedy underworld.
The film received positive critical reaction when released in 1986. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote of the two main characters "The relationship of their characters in the film is interesting, because both people, for personal reasons, have developed a style that doesn't reveal very much." [1] However, Vincent Canby, writing for the New York Times, dismissed the film as "classy kitsch." [2]
In May 2009, Larry Clark announced a remake, written and directed by himself. It will star Mickey Rourke and Eva Green. Filming is said to start in early July.
On July 14, 2009, it was announced on Mickey Rourke's official website that he is no longer attached to the remake of Mona Lisa.[1]
