It is a performances centric movie

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Neil Jordan, the writer-director who brought audiences The Crying Game in 1992, created another dark, mysterious story Mona Lisa. In this film, Bob Hoskins stars as an ex-con who can't find work. His friend, Michael Caine, helps gets a job as a chauffeur to a call-girl, Cathy Tyson, but he has ulterior motives. As Bob and Cathy become friends, he gets involved in her seedy world and dangerous problems.Mona Lisa is a pretty upsetting movie, even though you might not be able to tell from the beginning. It feels like just a seedy drama, but by the end, you'll be extremely shaken up, and depending on how deeply you're affected, you might wipe away a tear. Bob Hoskins swept the Best Actor awards the next year, winning at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Cannes, Boston Critics, Kansas Critics, London Critics, Los Angeles Critics, New York Film Critics, Valladolid Festival, and National Society of Film Critics. Normally a character actor, Bob took command of the screen and owned his leading role. Even though he played a hardened ex-con, he was sensitive and felt a range of emotions deeply. At the Academy Awards, Bob lost the gold to Paul Newman's ridiculous, phoned-in performance in The Color of Money.If you can handle a heavy story set in a less-than-savory environment, you might want to check out Mona Lisa. It's not really the kind of film you'll love and want to watch over and over, but you'll be able to appreciate the acting. Let's put it this way: I own The Crying Game, but I could only handle watching Mona Lisa once.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

Facing limited employment prospects after a long stint in jail, a British gangster accepts a job as chauffeur to a high class call girl and eventually agrees to help the young woman search for a teen prostitute friend in this human drama from Neil Jordan. The film is best known nowadays as the movie that scored Bob Hoskins his only ever Oscar nomination and his performance is the main reason why the film works. His character is, after all, written as a little bit too much of an innocent naïve for credibility. His complete shock at the perversions of the call girl's clients is unrealistic; same goes for the way he expects his former crime boss to bend over backwards for him simply because he went to jail because he once covered up for him. As mentioned though, Hoskins is excellent in the main role though and manages to give a warm humanity to this hardened yet idealistic and hardly cynical man; his strained relationship with his teenage daughter hits all the right notes too. The film additionally has a surefire interesting twist as Hoskins finds out the real reason why the call girl is so desperate to find her former friend - a twist that comes across extra powerfully since it highlights just how out of touch Hoskins really is with the seedy world around him in which everybody has an ulterior motive almost all the time. Despite his high billing, Michael Caine appears in just a handful of scenes and only makes a limited impression, but in addition to Hoskins, Cathy Tyson (as the call girl) and Robbie Coltrane (as the closest Hoskins has to a real friend) offer fine performances too.

Many consider this the British Taxi Driver. A bit of a simplification as it deals with a man who gets involved with the underworld of underage girls and prostitution. Mona Lisa is much more a romance set against a backdrop of criminal violence. Bob Hoskins stars in his greatest role ever. Just out of prison, he gets a job driving around a high class call girl. They develop a working relationship of trust and soon Hoskins is asked to track down a missing girl. Hoskins is so perfect in this role. You can easily see him as a gruff and mean gangster, but he adds a vulnerability which serves the romantic angle so well. He also has an endearing childlike naivety. Hoskins has great chemistry with everyone from Michael Caines villainous Mortwell, to his conversations about crime novels with Robbie Coltrane. The soundtrack is ace, with the opening and closing lyrics to Mona Lisa being all about interpretation, which this film certainly asks you to find your own. Director Neil Jordan litters scenes with which allude to fantasy stories, a white rabbit here, performing dwarfs there, etc. The dialogue is funny, the relationships emotional, and the themes disturbing. It's the full package and almost unique in its tone.

"Mona Lisa" is a moving and memorable combination of the British crime film and the character study, produced by George Harrison'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. Hoskins's George is a low level mob member getting out of prison after spending seven years there, emerging into a world unfamiliar to him. He'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 that'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 George'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 "Mona Lisa" is grim and gritty stuff, with fairy tale and film noir elements emphasized. By the end, George realizes how much he'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 ('The Wire') as vicious pimp Anderson. (Trivia note: look for Kenny Baker, always to be best known as R2-D2 in the "Star Wars" franchise, as a boardwalk busker.) Fine music by Michael Kamen is a plus, as well as soundtrack selections including Nat King Cole's performances of "When I Fall in Love" and the title tune. Worth seeing for fans of the crime film and of the cast & crew, "Mona Lisa" is potent entertainment. Eight out of 10.