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Bob Hoskins won the best actor BAFTA as the lead in this strange tale of George, an ex con who falls for call girl Simone and embarks at her request on a journey through London's seedier districts to rescue a young girl who has been groomed into prostitution. There's a mix of genres to be had here with a dark crime drama being spliced with comic moments and social commentary. Hoskins is superb as is Cathy Tyson as Simone. Michael Caine is the villainous crime boss Mortwell and Robbie Coltrane provides a bit of light relief as George's long term pal and budding artist Thomas. Simone's reverse Pretty Woman makeover of George is one of the comic highlights of the film.

I'm a late viewer to this franchise but thought I would see what the fuss was all about. Keanu Reeves does his best but I couldn't actually finish this film given the absurdity of the cartoonish violence and body count that stacks up in the first hour. You'd have to be at primary school to believe this film which makes Mission Impossible look like a fly on the wall documentary. It's stylishly done in parts but just seems to me to be a silly waste of the considerable talents of Reeves, Michael Nyqvist and Willem Defoe. It's obviously got a loyal following but I think I'm going to leave my viewing here with the original.

I'm not sure how it's taken me until 2025 to watch this gem of a film but it was delightful from its model village style opening right through to the finish. Margaret Lockwood is simply delicious as one of Hitchcock's finest screen heroines and May Whitty is just perfect as Miss Froy. Lockwood lights up the screen from the moment she appears and there's a great mix of humour and suspense throughout with a fabulous cast of characters including Michael Redgrave as Gilbert and Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford as two English toffs whose focus is almost exclusively on Test Match cricket! There are similarities to The 39 Steps and a little touch of North by Northwest and like those two it's a classic.