The Professional | Jean Reno, Gary Oldman

The Professional | Jean Reno, Gary Oldman | Superb

DVDs:

The Professional

	The Professional Jean Reno, Gary Oldman Sony Pictures, 1998 average customer review:based on 439 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Rest Of The Story

The additional 24 minutes of footage make this movie finally come together for the viewer.The scene of Tony's first face to face meeting with Mathilda , (glaringly absent from the first U.S. version)make one see how she could approach him with familiarity later.The restored scenes of Leon training Mathilda (in the use of firearms), and going on "cleaning" jobs, lends credibility to her having the idea she could take on the DEA. And so on, and so on.I considered it a excellent film before,but it is much more coherent and understandable with the re-insertion of the missing scenes.******(6 Stars)

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Superb

Luc Bessons Leon is a spellbinding story of a Hitman and a young girl. The hitman 'Leon' is played by Jean Reno and 'Matilda' by Natalie Portman. Both are brilliant. The other major role in the film goes to Gary Oldman as the corrupt and psychotic Policeman 'Stansfield'. Oldman is typically over the top, but in this film it felt right.

The detail of the relationship between Leon and Matilda is left implied but unstated directly. It may be sexual, despite Matilda being underage, but somehow you accept that their relationship works. Although Matilda is the innocent because of her age (12), Leon appears on some level to be an innocent or simpleton as well. He is a deadly hitman, but he is being ripped off by the man who organises the jobs for him, and I never got the impression that he had a grip on anything other than how to kill people.

This is all done beautifully. Scene after scene will stay with you: The opening where Leon goes to visit the 'Fatman'. The early rampage by 'Stansfield' at the apartment when Matildas father is in trouble over drugs. The scene in the toilet at the Police Station. I could list a dozen memorable scenes quite easily.

One thing worth mentioning is that although a lot of bullets fly during this film, there are really no special effects, and yet it is effortlessly more entertaining than say Mission Impossible III (a random pick of a recent blockbuster) which is full of CGI effects and explosions. In Leon you care about the characters beacuse the script is good (the music is also an inportant factor as well). This film will affect you and despite the violence, and occasional black comic moments, you may well end up crying.

The longer version presented here has a fair amount of additional material, most noteably a much longer sequence where Leon is training Matilda. I have seen this version and the shorter version released in the UK and rate both versions equally highly.

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Superb "Shoot-em-Up"/Redemption Tale

Mathilda is a bright 12 year old girl living with her awful family in a rundown tenement. She is emotionally ignored and physically beaten by her dope slinger father, her stepmother who dresses like a prostitute and her sister who seems to spend her life tightening her buttocks muscles to aerobices videos.
Mathilda's neighbor Leon is a quiet, brooding loner who performs mob hits through local mob contact Danny Aiello, who takes advantage of Leon's lack of education and language skills. Leon radiates disillusionment with his trade, but seems locked into what he does and does well.
Leon strikes a fatherly friendship with Mathilda; he taking pity on the sweet child and her unfortunate enviroment; she sadly desperate for stability and caring in her cruel world.
When renegade DEA man Gary Oldman and his combo posse of rogue agents and street thugs slaughter Mathildas family, Leon and Mathilda are forced together. Oldman soon comes to realize a witness from the apartment masscre may be alive.Little Mathilda becomes Oldmans target and detatched Leon's lonely life is invigorated as he uses his talent with firearms with his newfound role of paternal protecter of his charge.
Oldmans performance as a pill-popping dirty dealing cop is over the edge and the double life he leads somewhat incredible as he eases between dope ripoff and legit cop work without fear of detection. Jean Reno is superb in the silence and solitude of a borderline depressed thug who is probably raked with internal conflict over his line of work. Natalie Portman is Oscar material as a child who tries to be tough but in the end can only do what a child can do. Portmans portrayal is remarkably touching without being cloying or pandering and will probably warm the hearts of many who rent this for the gunplay.
GREAT FILM!!

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Uncut means Better

Having seen the 'movie released' version of Leon - The Professional I was very impressed with the international version. I enjoyed the exploration of the relationship between Leon and Mathilda and have to say I found it one of the most entertaining movies I've watched in a while. Leon does what he does and keeps his life simple except where it applies to his relationship with Mathilda. What develops here is a clear image of a man's desire to help this girl (who he loves both as a daughter and woman, although the movie subtly conveys the ability to keep the two apart.) Hey, in the end he does the bad guy and helps the good guy. What more could you ask for??

Great movie - great performances.

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