Leon: The Professional

Leon: The Professional is a very interesting film, to say the least. Leon revolves around an assassin named Leon, played by Jean Reno, who one day after getting groceries, meets a young girl, played by a young Natalie Portman, who lives in the same apartment building. Later that day, mobsters show up at the girl's apartment and kill her entire family while she is out. She comes back to witness this and goes to Leon's apartment and he lets her in for her safety. The girl decides she wants to exact revenge on the people who killed her family (more so her younger brother, she even says she could care less about the rest of her family), and wants Leon to train her to become an assassin. The story is very interesting and deals with a very odd, forbidden love sub-plot which seems very strange, especially due to the age differences between Reno's character and Portman's character. The cinematography of the film is also somewhat interesting at points. Montages are used sometimes, which for once look good in this film, filming through keyholes and the use of fisheye lenses occur multiple times, and more. Also, the performances by the actors/actresses are very believable and it seems as if the actors really stepped into their roles. Reno portrays the tall, silent hitman type quite well and his awkwardness is brought up multiple times. Portman plays a once innocent girl who becomes angered and vindictive. Gary Oldman does a great job portraying a ruthless mafia man who seems to have no feelings of remorse or empathy. The score is very dramatic and adds a lot of depth to the film and especially to the dramatic scenes. Despite being a mostly dramatic film, there are a few, shall I say, awesome fighting scenes/shootouts that might even impress a modern film viewer. All in all, I didn't expect much of Leon, but I truly enjoyed myself and I think you will to.

Bottom Line: Buy It/Rent It

Score: 8/10

Year: 1994
Director: Luc Besson (Taken, The Fifth Element, Transporter 2)
Cast: Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello
Rating: R