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Going into this, I was expecting an alright film with a strong performance by Bob Hoskins. Boy, was I so very wrong. Hoskins himself more than exceeded my expectations, but the real surprise was how powerful the film itself was. Like a lot of my favorite films, the premise is simple; George (Hoskins) is fresh out of prison and gets a job as a driver for Simone (Cathy Tyson), a high-class call girl. It's an easy setup for a crime thriller, when George inevitably takes a fancy to Simone and will do anything she asks, but it's what they do beyond that which takes the film to another level. As a crime thriller, it works brilliantly. I wish Neil Jordan would operate more in this genre, because with this and the phenomenal Crying Game, which came out six years later, he has proved twice over his massive capability for making crime thrillers that are unique and wickedly intense.
As George is driven down this dark path into the new underworld, a place darker and more twisted than it was when he went away, Jordan paces everything with a slow burn that gets downright diabolical in it's final act. Michael Caine shows up as the sinister crime boss and he practically tears through the screen with his malice, along with a solid supporting turn by The Wire's Clarke Peters. There's an elevator scene near the end that just about made me sweat it was so intense and unexpected. Hoskins portrays George as an intimidating man with a rage inside of him, but when he's on screen with Caine he looks like a chubby boy being picked on at the playground.
The relationship between George and Simone is built in a refreshingly honest way, played with genuine sincerity by Hoskins and Tyson, and all of this leads to a practically flawless crime thriller. However that's not where the film stops, as there is so much more going on beneath the surface. One could take it all at face value and still manage to be amazed, I know I sure would have been, but I found that the themes resonated far deeper than that. It's unspoken, but I feel that the change of the world is really displayed in focus here by Jordan and in particular by Hoskins' portrayal of George. He came out of prison expecting to get right back into the crime game, but the world has changed and grown far too menacing for someone as simple and good-natured as him. George has a mean streak to him and is capable of great violence when necessary, but at his heart he is a man who believes in the old ways.
He went down for another man and when he comes out of prison he buys that man a rabbit to let him know that he's back. It's not done as a message of anything sinister, but as a kind gesture, to buy a "fluffy rabbit with long floppy ears". Just take notice at how the tone of the film has shifted by the time the rabbit comes back at the end and we've come full circle, and you can feel how the weight of this theme pours through the picture. Another subtle way they display it all is through how George dresses himself. When he first gets money for a new wardrobe, he buys tacky and unsuitable clothing, making a fool of himself but he finds it hilarious. As he takes his job more seriously, he buys a finer wardrobe and the people that serve these wicked men take notice and respect him more as a result; they treat him as if he's anyone else. It's when George begins to revolt back against this changed world that he once again goes back to his more flamboyant clothing and embraces the good man that he always was.
There's so much going on in Hoskins' performance that isn't laid out for the audience, but he makes it impossible not to see. That whole theme of coming out of prison to a much different and more frightening world is heartbreakingly portrayed through his expressions, he carries the whole thing almost on his own. The "guy falling for a prostitute" routine has been done dozens of times in cinema over the years, but there's an added weight to it here when Hoskins portrays the haunting loneliness of this character and how desperate he is just to have a companion. He's fresh out of prison in a world that doesn't want him anymore and all he wants is someone to treat him like he matters. This all comes through in the remarkably complex and detailed performance from Hoskins, which commands this rich film all the way through. As a crime thriller it's aces, but if you pay enough attention it is so much more.
score 9/10
Rockwell_Cronenberg 5 February 2012
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2561394/ |
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16-11-2020 01:59:07