Mona Lisa · reception & legacy
1986 · Neil Jordan
How Mona Lisa has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
A critical hit from the start — Cannes prize, Oscar nomination — and it's largely held that reputation, now standing as a peak of 1980s British cinema and the film people reach for when arguing Bob Hoskins was one of the great screen actors.
What's debated
The evergreen debate is whether Hoskins was robbed at the 1987 Oscars, where his sweep of Cannes, BAFTA and the Golden Globe ended with the Academy handing Best Actor to Paul Newman for The Color of Money.
Its footprint
It's forever entwined with Nat King Cole's 'Mona Lisa,' which drifts through the film and retitled the whole thing a mood; it's also a touchstone for 'Michael Caine playing genuinely frightening' and a crown jewel of George Harrison's HandMade Films.
Where it stands
A canonical British neo-noir — beloved by cinephiles as Hoskins's towering hour and a key early Neil Jordan, though it feels under-watched relative to its reputation.