X
- 1986
- R
- Island Pictures
- 1 h 44 m
- 1986
- R
- Island Pictures
- 1 h 44 m
Summary A man recently released from prison manages to get a job driving a call girl from customer to customer.
Directed By: Neil Jordan
Written By: David Leland, Neil Jordan
- 1986
- R
- Island Pictures
- 1 h 44 m
- 1986
- R
- Island Pictures
- 1 h 44 m
Mona Lisa
7.0
Where to Watch
Summary A man recently released from prison manages to get a job driving a call girl from customer to customer.
Directed By: Neil Jordan
Written By: David Leland, Neil Jordan
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
85
90% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
10% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
85
90% Positive
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
10% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It is precisely that interplay between tenderness and ruthlessness
that is the special excitement of Mona Lisa, one of the year's most
spellbinding films. [2 July 1986, p.C3]
A wonderful achievement, a dark film with a generous heart in the shape of an extraordinarily touching performance from Hoskins.
Hoskins and costar Cathy Tyson of the Royal Shakespeare Company are an electric couple, with their disparate colors and shapes. She's class; he's crass. Their turbulent teamwork is augmented with sure supporting performances by Michael Caine, as the flesh-peddling villain Mortwell; and British comedian Robbie Coltrane, as George's teddy bear of a best friend, Thomas. [18 July 1986, p.31]
His vision is most immediately reminiscent of from the hellish New York of Scorsese's Taxi Driver, but Hoskins provides the crucial difference, spiking the nihilism by emerging from the abyss with a glimmer of hope instead of a thousand-yard stare.
The world Jordan envisions is desperate, but Hoskins’s human heart offers a lovely thread of hope.
NEIL JORDAN'S Mona Lisa is classy kitsch. It's as smooth and distinctive (and, ultimately, as insubstantial) as the old Nat (King) Cole recording of the song, which gives the film its title and a lot of its mood. It's also got high style, so you needn't hate yourself for liking it.
Ultimately, there is something trite at the centre of the movie, most especially in the overuse of Nat King Cole’s haunting Mona Lisa to suggest Tyson’s ambiguity and Hoskins’s puzzlement. But this is almost concealed by Tyson’s sense of desperation and Hoskins’s painful sincerity.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 User Ratings
7.0
60% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
40% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 User Ratings
7.0
60% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
40% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Production Company
HandMade Films,
Palace Production
Release Date Jun 13, 1986
Duration 1 h 44 m
Rating R
Tagline Sometimes love is a strange and wicked game.
Awards
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 4 Nominations
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
BAFTA Awards
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
