The Professional

What happens when you piss off Jean-Paul Belmondo? He'll stun you with a look when you least expect it. And when Ennio Morricone drops one of his hauntingly brilliant scores? The tension will hit you so hard, even the deli slicer down the street would overheat from the pressure. Pair Belmondo with a charming French woman? He'll seduce her—both on and off-screen. And what do you get when you watch most French crime thrillers from the 80s? A knockout story that leaves you floored. There's really no need to overanalyze this one—it’s one of those rare films that just gets everything right. (26/03/2012)

The best Jean-Paul Belmondo film, complete with Ennio Morricone's music, perfectly fitting the atmosphere of Paris. The scene where Beaumont finally meets Rosen is unforgettable. I said I would always be right behind you... (04/07/2006)

Jean-Paul Belmondo created his acting reputation and fame precisely with characters of adventurers, detectives, and agents of various kinds, and his character from The Professional is literally the essence of what is typical about Belmondo's acting and what audiences admire. A smart script, dialogue, fights, and a surprising ending. Probably Belmondo's best film. Overall impression: 95%. (19/04/2009)

The archetypal plot premise of cop and villain, very progressive for its time, incorporates an unprecedented and later widely used element that takes these types of films up a notch in quality: the imaginary erasure, or at least partial elimination, of clearly definable good and evil, the absence of a one-sided character profile. Belmondo's character wants to do something bad, but the viewer sympathises and roots for him, while Hossein's character wants to do something good, but his nature makes the viewer dislike him. The Professional works impressively with this clash of two acting and cinematic personas, stylising Belmondo into the role of a rugged hero oscillating on the edge of what is right and wrong. There’s no point addressing that the technical aspects aren’t that good, they are a product of the era. The plot is perhaps a little too stilted at times and the protagonist is too many steps ahead of the others; later films managed to deal with this better. But Belmondo is one of the few unique heroes of the silver screen, where generations will no doubt love his unconventional charm and heroism, interspersed with countless comedic situations and quirks. Revolutionary for its time, nowadays an enjoyable classic that doesn't offend, but won’t impress so much compared to the others. Morricone’s music is perhaps even more famous than the film. (04/11/2017)

Hand claps to Ennio Morricone and hand claps to Jean-Paul Belmondo! The Professional is an adventure full of one-liners, humour and noir atmosphere. (22/04/2018)