Mona Lisa. 1986. UK. Directed by Neil Jordan. Screenplay by Jordan, David Leland. With Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tison, Michael Caine. DCP courtesy Janus Films. 104 min.
Having befriended actor Bob Hoskins when they appeared together in Alan Alda’s Sweet Liberty and a poor adaptation of Graham Greene’s The Honorary Council, Michael Caine steals his memorable scenes in Mona Lisa, Neil Jordan’s sentimental ballad of a noir film that pays loving homage to Nicholas Ray’s They Live by Night and John Berry’s He Ran All the Way. Caine plays the smarmy, thuggish crime boss who dupes Hoskins into doing seven years on a bum rap, then gives him the job of chauffeuring one of his high-priced escorts on her nightly rounds. What’s most touching, though, is the vulnerability and protectiveness Hoskins brings to his relationship with Simone (an affecting Cathy Tyson) as they make their Dantean journey from the hell of South London to the dawning grace of Brighton.