Léon: The Professional

Luc Besson used to write great scripts and turn them into fantastic movies. This was not just an ordinary action thriller but also an exciting drama about a somewhat autistic professional assassin and his prepubescent almost-apprentice. I enjoyed it again, just like I did almost thirty years ago. It was, hands down, Natalie Portman's best role and one of Jean Reno's best roles. Jean Reno was great in the roles of disturbed assassins, just like Gary Oldman was with his psychopaths. Maybe they suited them too much because they both got typecast in them. True, the story wasn't exactly a brain exercise, but without torture, I admit that I didn't care at all because I really enjoyed the central, strongly mismatched duo. There was definitely a certain nostalgia involved. / Lesson learned: Take extra care of your best friend. (17/03/2023)

The delicately portrayed yet wonderfully performed relationship between Reno and Portman is flawless. Besson stayed true to himself in his first Hollywood film and Leon retained his French esprit. Gary Oldman's performance as a psychopathic thug and lover of classical music is unforgettable. Eric Serra also outdid himself and created a lovely soundtrack (he forgot about it again in The Fifth Element). (13/04/2003)

If I ever wrote a story about a hit man, I'd probably want it to look like this. Action-packed, gritty, yet human and powerfully emotional. Moreover, there are excellent characters here, brought to life beautifully by quirks, like milk or some pills. Luc Besson showed why he is such a great filmmaker with this one. It's a shame it doesn't quite fulfill that today. (26/04/2015)

Besson's The Professional is one of those nonchalant films that very cleverly and imaginatively combines the "old school" with new techniques and together manage to create a fabulous work that, in addition to brilliant filmmaking, abounds with "that something extra" – an inner feeling, flair, or simply strong emotional "capital" that I can't explain or define exactly, but I can recognize very clearly when watching it:) I love the fact that even when Besson uses genre elements (clichés?) from other masters (Tarantino, Scorsese, De Palma, Coppola), he manages to combine them just as masterfully, and where the genre cliché begins and ends, he calmly creates a field of his own overlap and stuns with his creativity. An uncommonly well made and sensitive film. One of the best I’ve ever seen. (20/06/2011)

Leon is one of those movies that is, as they say, “almost perfect". Besson beautifully dissects the relationship between “cleaner" Leon and a young girl, Mathilda, who got caught up in his simple live. He is supported by excellent acting performances from Jean Reno, the awfully cute Natalie Portman and a disgustingly nasty villain, Gary Oldman. An entertaining and sad story about revenge, about life, and about death. (01/12/2006)