Mona Lisa

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Mona Lisa

R

1986

1h 44m

Mystery & Thriller

Comedy

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

98%

Tomatometer

42 Reviews

81%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

George is a small-time crook just out of prison who discovers his tough-guy image is out of date. Reduced to working as a minder/driver for high class call girl Simone, he has to agree when she asks him to find a young colleague from her King's Cross days. That's when George's troubles just start.

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Critics Consensus

Bob Hoskins is outstanding in Mona Lisa, giving this stylish neo-noir a riveting centerpiece that sets it apart from similar stories.

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Jay Carr

Boston Globe

The best romantic gangster movie in years. Bob Hoskins is unforgettable as a sweet thug whose feelings go to his fists.

Jul 30, 2024

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Mona Lisa reeks of noirishness. Worse, it reeks of intellectualized noirishnesss. But the whole movie has some of the potency of cheap music that’s represented by the title song. I succumbed.

Sep 13, 2023

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Wendy Ide

The Times (UK)

George is a brilliant creation — part hapless clown, part two-bit criminal, he is the beating heart of this gritty little British film.

Aug 9, 2023

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

[Neil] Jordan’s portrait is at once lush and garish, romantic and cynical, and Caine’s shockingly vicious performance as cold-blooded crime boss Mortwell sets the bar for cruelty and avarice.

Dec 7, 2024

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Peter Bell

Vague Visages

Mona Lisa was ahead of its time, a precursor of urban fairy tales in late 90s British cinema.

Jun 5, 2023

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Brian Susbielles

InSession Film

Finding love in such a dark place is dangerous and manipulative, yet unexpectedly possible for a man like George.

Feb 28, 2023

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Luca D

Does not live up to expectations. Characters are unrelatable and uninteresting. Not a bad movie, just not a very good one. The plot loosely fumbles around and naturally ends with a shootout and then everyone goes home and it's over. I will say the soundtrack acting and cinematography were all very good, it's just the lack of plot and character depth that kills it for me.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

06/06/25

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Audience Member

Great film with a brilliant performance from Bob Hoskins. I preferred this to the long good Friday, it seemed to hang together a bit better and the characters had a little bit more depth.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/18/25

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Mason M

Though I've definitely seen films with similar concepts to this, Mona Lisa pulls off the idea with more personality and substance than I've seen before. Mona Lisa is an amazing film that somehow beautifully examines the horrific world of prostitution by putting you in the head of its confused and disoriented lead, played brilliantly by Bob Hoskins, with the neon colored and often dreamlike imagery. This is also one of the saddest and most tragic films I've ever seen, with each scene sending me further down an emotional spiral. Though this is not for the faint of heart, Mona Lisa is a beautifully tragic film that succeeds with its performances and filmmaking.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/18/24

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Alec B

A fascinating sort of re-imaging of "Taxi Driver". Hoskins gives a superb, towering performance here.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/09/24

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Audience Member

Bob Hoskins is fantastic and Neil Jordan’s direction is as good as ever. Great stuff

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/13/23

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Audience Member

Hoskins is brilliant in this excellently directed and produced British thriller. Sadly the film is let down by the acting of all the female parts who are all unconvincingly wooden or overacting. Excellent plot with some memorable moments. Best film I've seen for a while but Hoskins really does carry it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

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Neil Jordan

Director

Bob Hoskins

George

Cathy Tyson

Simone

Michael Caine

Mortwell

Robbie Coltrane

Thomas

Clarke Peters

Anderson

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Synopsis

George is a small-time crook just out of prison who discovers his tough-guy image is out of date. Reduced to working as a minder/driver for high class call girl Simone, he has to agree when she asks him to find a young colleague from her King's Cross days. That's when George's troubles just start.

Director: Neil Jordan
Screenwriter: Neil Jordan, David Leland
Distributor: Island Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 13, 1986, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2020
Box Office (Gross USA): $4.3M
Runtime: 1h 44m

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