Neil Jordan’s “Mona Lisa” (1986) begins with a romantic shot from under a bridge, in a nearly identical manner to his far more famous and celebrated “The Crying Game” (1992).
It’s far from the only things these two Jordan-directed films, which are masterpieces, have in common.
Bob Hoskins stars as George, a bloke who has just finished a seven-year prison stretch, notable especially for how George didn’t rat on his boss, a criminal named Mortwell (Michael Caine, sublimely evil). George has been away for so long, his neighborhood has changed, Mortwell now comes across as a slick, seemingly respectable citizen and George has no idea how to use a pager.
George is hired by Mortwell to drive a prostitute named Simone (Cathy Tyson) to her appointments. Initially, George’s...