The role that earned Hoskins his only Academy Award nomination, as well as a Golden Globe, Cannes Film Festival Award and a BAFTA was that of George, an ex-con charged with driving a high-class call girl from job to job in the seedy London underworld. Perhaps the darkest film he's been involved in, Hoskins brought a unique charm to the role of George as a man who wanders London trying to find a purpose for himself after seven years in prison. He ends up helping Simone, the aforementioned call-girl, in her quest to help an old friend from the streets, and ends up confronting the worst gangsters in London and constantly puts himself in danger. The plaudits Hoskins received for the role were entirely justified, given how accomplished his performance is in adding a likeability factor to a hugely complex character. One of the many 'grit flicks' Hoskins will be remembered for, the actor brings a quality to his roles that transcends the stereotypes formed by films like Harry Brown and Green Street - namely substance rather than just style - and only one film shows that quality more than Mona Lisa...
