Mona Lisa

Really good British neo-noir featuring great performances from Bob Hoskins and the lovely Cathy Tyson who share some nice scenes together and a pretty melancholy ending. Michael Caine is great as a classy scumbag (seems like he played many of these roles in the 70s and 80s). This is the second time seeing this and still holds up. **4.0/5**

I had watched this movie many years ago, but not to remember much of it, so with the fairly positive ratings and Bob Hoskins, it felt like a safe bet. But there wasn’t as much humor as I thought I remembered, and the plot of a guy trying to “rescue” a hooker seems rather stereotypical and predictable in places. It didn’t do much for me and I barely stuck with it. I was so unimpressed that I decided not to watch another gangster movie featuring Hoskins and good ratings.

Bob Hoskins is entirely convincing as the increasingly conflicted and crotchety petty criminal “George” who has just been released after a seven year stretch as a guest of Her Majesty. He has been released into a world that doesn’t really want him any more, and so he is relegated to driving high class hooker “Simone” (Cathy Tyson) from one wealthy client to another, whilst his ex-wife ensures that he isn’t welcome at home or to see his daughter. Initially, he isn’t too impressed with his new charge but the more he works with her the more they gradually begin to understand each other and he…