Tag: The Professional

Léon: The ProfessionalYear: 1994Rating: RLength: 110 minutes / 1.83 hours There’s something oddly satisfying about watching a professional do their job. The ease with which these people do the thing they’ve trained extensively to do is almost mesmerizing. While this usually applies to creative types, with Luc Besson’s Léon: The Professional (1994), a skilled assassin is equally fun to observe. What makes this movie endearing is the simple life that the titular Léon (Jean Reno) lives. Additionally, the performances by Natalie Portman and Gary Oldman shine through here in some uncomfortable ways that make this movie both timeless and of its time. While the action sequences in Léon: The Professional are top-notch, the characters make the movie so much better. Since most people never encounter a professional assassin, there’s just this assumption that they’re always out killing people. Instead, there’s understandable caution and an almost savant level of adherence to rules that keep these professional killers alive to cash in on the...