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Starring: Bob Hoskins, Cathy Tyson, Michael Caine

Directed by: Neil Jordan

George played by Bob Hoskins has just gotten out of prison. He begins by meeting his wife and his kid. But this ends up being a sordid affair. He has lost a lot after he comes out of prison. He goes back to his old employer to find him some job. He gets a job driving around a high class hooker who hates his guts. But there is the usual eventuality in this tale. They grow an admiration for each other and in the classic Noir style she asks for his help.This very much in the framework of a Neil Jordan film.

The world he shows is of the underbelly of the London sex world. He tries to infuse the same sensibilities like Scorcese’s early work Taxi Driver. The movie rests on the shoulders of Bob Hoskins. His character relates with tarts down trodden place. He begins in search of the young girl Simone has asked him to find for her. But the tale begins to take a more thrill turn. The moment the search is on lots of things happen around him which he fails to understand. There are moments during which he confronts Simone’s conscious. But it is not long that he finds out that everyone is out to just manipulate him. The film works on a very psychological level by playing at George’s naivety.

This is a very straightforward version of the Taxi driver without any absurdities. He begins to confront his former boss Dinny among others. But the dialog is cryptic enough to keep us guessing what is going through these people minds. Bob Hoskins personality is improvised upon in this movie bringing out a wide range of emotions from the dimunitive man. The way he is made to take a side gives this movie a more moral base. He is angry and inquisitive of this world Simone is in. He is disgusted at the younger ones in this flesh trade.

The ending seems to be forced upon by the director where he could have done it the moment Bob watches the sea because his character likes it very much. But it takes a more commercial route. But for just these minor flaws we still cant take the greatness of Hoskin’s performance from this neatly made movie.