Do you want to see ‘Mona Lisa’?

Mona Lisa (1986)

tomatometer

All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 8/10
Reviews Counted: 27
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

audience

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 5,095

My Rating

Added to your Facebook Timeline. — undo

Movie Info

Bob Hoskins plays George, a tough but basically goodhearted British mob flunky, recently released from prison, where he'd served a term to cover up for his gangster boss (Michael Caine). Still willing to be everyone's doormat, George agrees to act as chauffeur for Simone (Cathy Tyson), a haughty, high-priced call girl. They don't like each other at first, but George begins to fall for her and take a protective interest. She implores him to help her find her only truly friend, a prostitute named

R, 1 hr. 44 min.

Drama, Romance, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Neil Jordan

Written By: Neil Jordan, David Leland

In Theaters: Jun 13, 1986 Wide

On DVD: Mar 13, 2001

Anchor Bay Entertainment

Mona Lisa Trailer & Photos

Cast

Bob Hoskins
George
Cathy Tyson
Simone
Michael Caine
Mortwell
Robbie Coltrane
Thomas
Kate Hardie
Cathy
Clarke Peters
Anderson
Sammi Davis
May
Zo� Nathenson
Jeannie
Rod Bedall
Terry
Joe Brown
Dudley
Pauline Melville
Dawn
Dawn Archibald
Girl Prostitute in Club
Kenny Baker
Brighton Busker
Gary Cady
Waiter
Robert Dorning
Hotel Punter
Perry Fenwick
White Pimp
David Halliwell
Devlin
Hossein Karimbeik
Raschid
Helen Martin
Peep Show Girl
G.B. "Zoot" Money
Carpenter
Bill Moore
Brighton Busker
Maggie O'Neill
Girl in Paradise Club
Stephen Persaud
Black Youth in Street
Jack Purvis
Brighton Busker
Raad Raawi
Arab Servant
Richard Strange
Porn shop Man
Alan Talbot
Attendant (Baths)
Mandy Winch
Flower Shop Girl
Joan Darling
Roberts
Donna Cannon
Young Prostitute
Jeremy Hardy
Shop Assistant
Geoffrey Larder
Hotel Clerk
Bryan Coleman
Stanley

Critic Reviews for Mona Lisa

All Critics (27) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (33) | Rotten (1) | DVD (24)

No wonder audiences have taken to this gritty romance as to a mongrel puppy; for at heart Mona Lisa is an old-fashioned poor-soul weepie, and George is less a Cagney rakehell than a Chaplin tramp.

April 20, 2010 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

Richard Corliss

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

Skillfully combines comedy and thriller, romance and sleaze.

March 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

It's like watching the departure of an ocean liner. After all of the initial excitement, you're left on the dock, alone, wondering what all the fuss was about.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

The movie's ending is a little too neat for my taste. But in a movie like this, everything depends on atmosphere and character, and Mona Lisa knows exactly what it is doing.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

In an era when movies about love almost always invariably devolve into formulaic affairs, Neil Jordan's Mona Lisa stands out as an often-surprising, multi-layered achievement.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews

| Comment

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Top Critic

The bracing peaks of image, acting, and narrative architecture handily win the day over a scenario that always feels more like a willfully engineered exercise than a fully plausible reality.

July 6, 2011 Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks

| Comment

Nick Davis

Nick's Flick Picks

The acting of Bob Hoskins in Jordan's disturbing Odd Couple tale is superb.

June 17, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

As a study of social fa�ades as a means of social climbing, and as a character study of Hoskins' would-be angel, Mona Lisa excels... [Blu-ray]

August 29, 2010 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews

| Comment

Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews Source: Groucho Reviews

A detailed, thoughtful film that sensitively explores the emotions within its seedy, exploitative milieu.

April 20, 2010 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Sublime acting all round, including a convincingly sinister Michael Caine as the big boss happy to profit from the loss of innocence.

April 20, 2010 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

manipulates the commodities of its genre to create something fresh and unique

August 2, 2009 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

| Comment

Blake French

Filmcritic.com

It's a crime film, and it can be intense and lurid, but it's first and foremost about these characters and Mona Lisa takes its time and gets to know them.

April 10, 2009 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Beautifully quirky, taboo, and British.

November 23, 2007 Comment

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

A wonderful achievement, a dark film with a generous heart in the shape of an extraordinarily touching performance from Hoskins.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Derek Adams

Time Out

The real drama ... stems from each character's frustrated attempt to transcend his or her lousy lot in life.

May 4, 2005 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness

| Comment

Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

it's hard not to think of Mona Lisa as a red-light version of Driving Miss Daisy.

August 14, 2004 Comment

James Plath

Reel.com

Hoskin's is engrossing in one of Neil Jordan's best movies.

June 24, 2003 Comment

Dan Lybarger

Nitrate Online

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Mona Lisa

View All

Only someone as vulnerable and sincere as Bob Hoskins could play the central character, an ex-con, loner, cheap, no good, now a chauffeur, with a taste for stories and a fixation for the hooker he works for. His performance carries the film. I love the use of Nat "King" Cole's music, as well as the sordid underworld

September 27, 2007

Pierluigi Puccini

Super Reviewer

A great little film with great performances from Bob Hoskins and Michael Caine.

October 30, 2011

Graham Jones

Super Reviewer

Mona Lisa Quotes

View All

No quotes approved yet for Mona Lisa. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Submit a Quote from 'Mona Lisa'

A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.

Example:

Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try.
Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.