Mona Lisa
by Neil Jordan
Our Price: $45.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $3.92 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Clarke Peters, Michael Caine, Robbie ColtraneDirector: Neil Jordan
Brand: STARZ HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Writer: Neil Jordan
Producer: Chris Brown
Producer: Denis O'Brien
Producer: George Harrison
Producer: Nik Powell
Producer: Patrick Cassavetti
Writer: David Leland
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 104 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-04-04
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
DVD Reviews of Mona Lisa
DVD Review: So What's A Feller to Do?
Summary: 4 Stars
Upon its 1986 release, "Mona Lisa" was proclaimed a masterpiece of the British crime film drama; it brought the Irish-born Neil Jordan, who'd both written and directed it, to the forefront of working British film directors. Reminded everyone of Nat King Cole's great song. Won its star Bob Hoskins an Academy Award nomination, as well as the Cannes Film Festival and British Academy Awards. It's since been recognized as one of the big three of British noir crime dramas: Michael Caine made "Get Carter," Hoskins made "The Long Good Friday;" together, they made "Mona Lisa."
The movie has frequently been compared to Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," for many reasons. Hoskins stars as George, typical, low-wattage East End thug, just getting out of jail after doing seven years for crime boss Mortwell (Caine). George thinks he's owed; Caine gives him a job chauffeuring high priced hooker Simone (Cathy Tyson). Hoskins is expert, as ever, in conveying the controlled violence in George's soul; he also conveys as well as possible the character's surprising naivete. Caine is the cool, even-tempered, joking, fierce villain we saw in "Get Carter;" there's a ten-second bit where he allows Mortwell's mask to slip; we see him with bared teeth, closing in for the kill. Tyson, on her way to a television career, does a good job as Simone, with her own problems. The young Sammi Davis, best known for "Hope and Glory,' stands out as an exploited young drug-addicted prostitute. And the economy-sized Scots comic Robbie Coltrane, before his television success as "Cracker," seems wasted in a pointless subplot, as George's best friend.
Still, to me, the most apt comparison to this movie is actually the movie of John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men." We have Coltrane, as Hoskin's friend, often asking him to "Tell me a story, George." That's a direct quote from Lenny (Lon Chaney Jr.)'s frequent request to his George, Burgess Meredith. And we have cockney George buying a rabbit for Mortwell, we're never told why, but Lenny had a pet rabbit in "Of Mice and Men." However, on a first viewing after several years, what was most striking to me about this film was how mannered the script is, how careful to alternate dramatic highs and lows. And how unlikely it is that Hoskins' character could be quite so naive, after an adult life spent the shady side of the law, and a seven-year jail stint.
The seamy London underworld of homelessness, drugs, and kinky sex is well-captured in this movie; the powerful photography gives us the feel of some of the city's meanest inhabitants and streets.
Otherwise, this movie builds upon another of Jordan's signature themes: the love of a man for an inappropriate woman. George is evidently greatly mistaken in believing that a character as damaged as Simone can be talked into a future of love, marriage, and a baby carriage. The same theme pops immediately to mind in at least the eight other feature films, that Jordan wrote, and/or directed, that I've seen. Many viewers will be familiar with the recent "Breakfast on Pluto." Liam Neeson, an Irish parish priest, fathers a child upon his housekeeper, whom he actually loves. In "The End of the Affair," Ralph Fiennes tries to continue seeing Julianne Moore, but she's sworn off him, in a prayer to God to save his life during the London blitz. In "Interview with the Vampire," the seven-year old vampire played by Kirsten Dunst, will never, in all eternity, be mature enough for Tom Cruise's undead character. In "The Crying Game,"well, the transvestite Dil will never be the woman Fergus thought she was. Then there's "The Good Thief:" Nick Nolte's old enough to be a grandfather to that movie's teenage prostitute. In "We're No Angels," Robert De Niro, masquerading as a priest, is flummoxed by Demi Moore's Molly. And "The Miracle," an adopted Irish teenager unknowingly falls in love with his biological, and fully-aware, mother. And then there's "High Spirits," Peter O'Toole at his least disciplined, a silly little haunted castle movie. Poor Steve Guttenberg finds himself in love with a ghost in that one. So what's a feller to do?
Description of Mona Lisa
Bob Hoskins ? in the once-in-a-lifetime role that earned him an Oscar® nomination and won both the Cannes Film Festival and British Academy Awards for Best Actor ? stars as George, a brutish mob soldier in the London underworld who has just been released from prison. Anxious for work, he?s given the job of chauffeuring elegant prostitute Simone (Cathy Tyson, in her stunning film debut) by gangster boss Mortwell (an unforgettable performance by Michael Caine). What follows is the film CBS Morning News calls "vivid and astonishing," a remarkable combination of uncommon love story and shocking thriller that remains one of the most startling dramas of the decade. Robbie Coltrane(OCEAN?S TWELVE), Clarke Peters (THE WIRE) and Sammi Davis (HOMEFRONT) co-star in this internationally acclaimed smash directed and co-written by Neil Jordan that was nominated for 6 British Academy Awards, including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Direction and Best Film.Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Jagged EdgeIMG; Release date: 2010-12-07; DVD
Best price: $5.55
Price in other shops:
Billy Liar (The Criterion Collection)COURTENAY,TOM; Release date: 2001-07-10; DVD
Best price: $50.00
NotoriousSony; Release date: 2008-10-14; DVD
Best price: $7.09
Price in other shops:
Harry BrownSON; Release date: 2010-08-31; DVD
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops:
RebeccaSony; Release date: 2008-10-14; Published: 2008-10-01; DVD
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Essential Art House: Variety LightsImage Entertainment; Release date: 2009-06-16; DVD
Best price: $9.03
Price in other shops:
![Dressed to Kill [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Dressed-to-Kill-Blu-ray-B0058O1FES-X.jpg)
Dressed to Kill [Blu-ray]MGM; Release date: 2011-09-06; Blu-ray
Best price: $16.57
Price in other shops:
Get CarterCAINE,MICHAEL; Release date: 2000-10-03; DVD
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
Withnail and IImage Entertainment; Release date: 2011-02-01; DVD
Best price: $6.22
Price in other shops:
The Long Good Friday (The Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 1998-11-24; DVD
Best price: $20.40
Price in other shops: