Movie #179 Mona Lisa *1986*

Bob Hoskins - George
Cathy Tyson - Simone
Michael Caine - Mortwell
Niel Jordan (Director)

I love when a film takes you in a direction you were not expecting.  I read the synopsis about Mona Lisa and it said that George is a small time criminal fresh out of jail that begins working as a driver for a high price call girl.  I was expecting a gangster story mixed with a hooker with a heart of gold subplot.  Wow was I off base.

First off, I love Bob Hoskins.  He is a big discovery for me with the Year of Film experiment.  I love how he can blow his top in one scene and by the end of the scene be calm and polite without apologizing and we love him for it.  He has a very naturalism about him.  Here he is a grunt for Mortwell.  The lovable looser.  A role perfectly fitted for him that he played to the nines!

Michael Caine plays Mortwell, a role like I have never seen him in before.  I always think of him as the good guy or at least a suave ladies man.  Here he is a low life scumbag leading even lower life, even scummier people.

This film was quirky with the addition of Robbie Coltrain as Thomas.  Geroge's best friend and confident.  They share mystery stories and make odd post modern sculptures.  Then the film goes down the rabbit hole and into the gutter.  Simone (the high class call girl) used to work the streets and had a friend that she shared a pimp with.  She got out of that abusive life but the friend never did.  She asks George if he would help her find the friend. 

There are other surprises that I won't dare to spoil, but several time my jaw fell wide open.  This film deals with a few sides of society (if you can call it that) that are not commonly addressed in film and especially not in "popular movies".

I really enjoyed this movie.  The script and acting was top notch, the camera work had moments of brilliance without being showy.  Music was used in a strange and interesting way.  There is a lot of Nat King Cole songs in the film (Mona Lisa being one), but there is a Genesis song that I thought wasn't going to fit in at all, but it worked great and made the scene 10X better. The movie reminded me a lot of Scorsese's Taxi Driver in a lot of ways. I give Mona Lisa ★★★★.  Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.