FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Mona Lisa [1985] [DVD] [1986]

Mona Lisa [1985] [DVD] [1986]
enlarge	Director: Neil Jordan Actors: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Robbie Coltrane, Michael Caine Studio: Anchor Bay Home Entertainment Category: DVD List Price: ~~£5.99~~ Buy New: £3.61 as of 22/11/2009 21:16 GMT details You Save: £2.38 (40%) New (6) Used (4) Collectible (1) from £2.09 Seller: fastdvd2006 Rating: 2 reviews Sales Rank: 24758 Format: PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over Region: 2 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 100 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5060020700187 ASIN: B000GL17IC Theatrical Release Date: 1986 Release Date: August 28, 2006 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


Similar Items: The Long Good Friday [1981] [DVD] [1979] The Long Good Friday - 25th Anniversary [1979] [DVD] The Crying Game [DVD] [1992] Get Carter [1971] [DVD] The Crying Game [DVD] [1992]


Customer Reviews: A sordid, brilliant film with three great performances August 13, 2007 C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA) 6 out of 9 found this review helpful This is a sordid and at times brutal film, which also is sad and great. George (Bob Hoskins) is just out of prison, needs a job, and is assigned by the local crime lord, Mortwell (Michael Caine), to be the driver and, if needed, protector, for a high priced London call girl named Simone (Cathy Tyson). George is tough, straight forward and not too smart. His idea of getting to B from A is to simply go through whatever is in the way. He has an ex-wife who hates him, a teen-age daughter who doesn't know him, and it seems just one friend. He's just a foot soldier. Simone is tough, elegant, defensive, but George and she gradually develop a liking for each other based on...what? "Do they ever fall in love with you?" George asks her one night. "Sometimes," she says. "They fall for what they think I am." "What are you?" George asks. "What do you think I am?" she says. George looks at her, puzzled but dead serious. "A lady," he says. Almost without being aware of it he begins in an inarticulate way to fall in love. br / br /As he takes Simone from assignment to assignment she begins insisting that he drive through King's Cross, a meat rack George calls it, where drugged up street walkers and their pimps loiter in the shadows and try to talk up business with any driver who slows down. Simone is looking for someone, a young prostitute she knew who had disappeared. Unwillingly, George agrees to help find the young woman. The search takes him into some of the worst sex establishments of Soho, where drugs and brutal pimps keep the girls, often underage, frightened and in line, and where a customer's taste for inflicting pain can be accomodated. In the background is Mortwell, a criminal who has turned drugs and rough sex into nothing more than a business. George finally finds Cathy, brings her back to Simone and discovers that there is all kinds of love in this world. The conclusion is violent, sad, and finally somewhat hopeful for George. br / br /Three great performances make this movie. Bob Hoskins brings an almost unbelievable combination of violence and honesty to the part. He makes George into a man who just doesn't get a lot of things but who has a great heart. Cathy Tyson brings a lot of assurance to her role. As the story progresses, she makes the character more and more complex. Michael Caine as Mortwell is something to see. He is calm, businesslike and without a single redeeming feature. He is not a man you'd want to cross. When he says, "Life goes on. We can't control it. We can only swim in it," you get a real sense that he sees life as nothing more than excrement . br / br /This is a first class movie. The DVD transfer is very good. There's a commentary track featuring Jordan and Hoskins. A British Classic August 26, 2007 Lou Knee (England) 1 out of 4 found this review helpful A great film from Neil Jordan which was really his homage to Taxi Driver. It is similar in plot and even has a reference to it, to sort of legitimise this obvious similarity. He does though, do enough to make it its own film entirely, this is thanks partly to the slightly humorous screenplay, the characterisation of the hero, but largely to Hoskins, who plays him. He got nominated for an Oscar for this, but everyone who's seen the film knows he should have won the thing. Kathy Tyson is also fantastic in her role as the upmarket pro. The violent climax is straight out of Taxi Driver, with no attempt to hide this, but with one slight difference (in case you haven't seen it yet). It is a really good British movie, up there with the best of them, and even has Michael Caine in it, who is associated with several of the best British films of all time. It is in my top 20 brit flicks. This DVD production is okay, but could be better: It is perfectly watchable, but has no extras whatsoever, not even a scene selection. Never mind, it is still a great British movie you can own and watch anytime you want.

CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON EU S.à.r.l. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.