What is the plot - in one sentence? Low-level mobster Bob-Hoskins gets out of prison and takes a job driving a high-end call-girl around London.
I don't have time, just spoil it for me? They hate each other at first, but eventually seem to warm to each other. She gets him to help her find a friend of hers who's kept hostage and addicted to drugs by a cruel and sadistic pimp... He finds her, but it turns out that the two women are lesbian lovers. After a brawl, the call girl shoots her old pimp, and also shoots Bob Hoskins' boss, Michael Caine. Upset at the life, and his betrayal, we later see that Bob Hoskins has made peace with his daughter, and is now working as a particularly hairy mechanic.
What is the meaning of the title? I don't know. The main theme song mentions Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile, but the lyrics don't mean anything relating to the movie, and Bob Hoskins' (whose name is George in this movie) mate Robbie Coltrane has a picture of the Mona Lisa in his apartment. Other than that, who knows?
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| This is from a scene where Bob Hoskins has clothes bought for him so that he looks as good as 1980s fashion can have him. Spoiler warning: the clothes are ghastly. |
Anything that's not aged well? Does a woman get slapped around? It's a movie set around prostitutes in the 1980s, have a guess. She's slapped around by a couple of pimps, she and Bob Hoskins exchange blows, and then she hits him with a whip for a while. He later punches her in the face when she pulls a gun on him at the movies climax.
Another couple of women are shown bruised and beaten. The language used would be unacceptable today in a movie, and the reveal that he's furious that he's risked his life all for "a couple a dykes", was a development I didn't expect. Was he doing it because he was expecting romance? What did he expect? Oh, and Bob Hoskins waiting outside a high school to pick up his kid would end in a tasering today.
Any thoughts? It's interesting to see 1980s London. There are areas which are completely different now. King's Cross, for example, and on the way to Camden, was a seedy shithole, which has now been (largely) gentrified. Chinatown has also become a lot more Chinese, a lot less 'stripjoints everywhere' though there are plenty there still. Bob Hoskins is furious that black people are living where he used to live, too. It's a London which is changing, and it's grim and grimy. There's also a hint at the corruption of the city: she works in high end hotels mainly, and she's seen dealing with Russians, Arab princes, and Japanese people, all looking to make a quick buck and launder money.
This isn't a great movie for showcasing humanity. A few of the women here are shown as being on 'drugs'. We're not told which, but apparently it is the type that makes you talk like you're 6 years old and only able to eat ice cream.I've never heard of that before.
The movie ends, as
it seems every English movie has to, on a pier. Here it's
Brighton Pier, and there's a fight where Bob Hoskins jumps up to
headbutt a guy, and there are some midgets watching. One of the
midgets is more famous inside a white bin as R2D2. I love that midgets are so renowned for being in movies that I can recognise them.Anyway, at the very end, she's just killed her two enemies, and now has her lover, but still looks to shoot George. He takes this as a huge betrayal. and proof that he was just a tool to help get her lover back, but I think it is a more complicated issue than that.
Would you recommend this? Kind of. It was a grim, unpleasant little movie, and like a lot of movies with him as the star, Bob Hoskins' character is a man out of his depth at the situation. Small roles by Michael Caine and Robbie Coltrane are nicely done - Michael Caine tends to work best in small doses. Because of the content, it wasn't really enjoyable, that's for sure, but it was interesting, and as a historical document, it's also good.
Not sure I'd rush back to watch it again though.
Final thoughts? I've
lived in and around the UK for ages. I didn't know that 'tart' was an
actual term for prostitute until this movie. I thought it was just
someone easy. It's been sunny here, and I've found myself not watching movies that are on a year I haven't watched yet, because I can't be bothered writing about them - so maybe I'll take a little time away from it. You'll also recognise that though I wrote Bob Hoskins name multiple times, and even his character name, too, I haven't mentioned the call girl. she's called Simone. I don't know the actress who plays her, but a brief internet search says it's Cathy Tyson. She's convincing in this. Anyway, that's enough grim stuff, I'll try comedy or samurai movies next.
Here we are, 51 down! The previous 50 can be found on this page. Go on, check it out.
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