Review of Léon: The Professional (1994) by James S — 16 Feb 2012

A masterful thriller from director Luc Besson, this is part action movie, part emotional journey which delights it's viewer with a treasure trove of wonders.

At the films core is the thrown together relationship of Jean Reno's titular Leon, a hit man and Natalie Portman's Mathilda, a young girl, whose paths cross when her family is brutally executed in a drugs deal gone sour, and she asks Leon to teach her the ways of the force in order to get revenge on her brothers murderers.

Luc Besson crafts a touching tale between the two as Leon warms to his new young charge while she slowly evokes feelings in him of doing something for someone for something other than money. Reno and Portman are both outstanding. Their relationship is not based on a father/daughter type scenario but more on one of close friends, a feat hard to accomplish when the characters are so different. Yet they make it wholly believable that these characters would find themselves in this situation. Their many scenes together are heart warming, funny and very sweet.

Leon wouldn't be the movie it was without it's darker side though. Reno's scenes in which he is carrying out his assassin type duties are exciting and just as wondrous but in an entirely different way. He is an effortlessly cool customer, almost completely at odds with how we see him with Portman which only reinforces the sense of difficulty Leon has in taking to Mathilda. Not only does Leon have two stand out performances from it's leads but a third, near show stealing turn is provided by Gary Oldman as the head of the gang responsible for putting Mathilda with Leon. His classical music loving, pill popping, ultra violent Norman Stansfield is one of 90s cinemas great psychopaths. It is another excellent performance from Oldman, unhinged, wild and scarily dangerous.

Leon is one of those films which at times can seem quite surreal. A touching and tender take, at times punctuated by shocking acts of violence but overall, it is a grand piece of work, exploring the nature of revenge and a curious friendship, played out by a great cast.