George is a small-time crook just out of prison who discovers his tough-guy image is out of date.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.
Really good British neo-noir featuring great performances from Bob Hoskins and the lovely Cathy Tyson who share some nice scenes together and a pretty melancholy ending. Michael Caine is great as a classy scumbag (seems like he played many of these roles in the 70s and 80s). This is the second time seeing this and still holds up. 4.0/5
I had watched this movie many years ago, but not to remember much of it, so with the fairly positive ratings and Bob Hoskins, it felt like a safe bet. But there wasnt as much humor as I thought I remembered, and the plot of a guy trying to rescue a hooker seems rather stereotypical and predictable in places. It didnt do much for me and I barely stuck with it. I was so unimpressed that I decided not to watch another gangster movie featuring Hoskins and good ratings.
Bob Hoskins is entirely convincing as the increasingly conflicted and crotchety petty criminal George who has just been released after a seven year stretch as a guest of Her Majesty. He has been released into a world that doesnt really want him any more, and so he is relegated to driving high class hooker Simone (Cathy Tyson) from one wealthy client to another, whilst his ex-wife ensures that he isnt welcome at home or to see his daughter. Initially, he isnt too impressed with his new charge but the more he works with her the more they gradually begin to understand each other and he falls, a bit one-sidedly it has to be said, in love. As that relationship becomes more trusting, Simone takes him into her confidence more and asks him to help ...