{"id":3581,"date":"2023-09-19T15:00:54","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T21:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/?p=3581"},"modified":"2023-08-24T10:54:06","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T16:54:06","slug":"movie-leon-the-professional-1994","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/19\/movie-leon-the-professional-1994\/","title":{"rendered":"MOVIE: L\u00e9on – The Professional (1994)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"L\u00e9on:L\u00e9on: The Professional
<\/u><\/strong>Year: 1994
Rating: R
Length: 110 minutes \/ 1.83 hours<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something oddly satisfying about watching a professional do their job. The ease with which these people do the thing they\u2019ve trained extensively to do is almost mesmerizing. While this usually applies to creative types, with Luc Besson\u2019s L\u00e9on: The Professional<\/em> (1994), a skilled assassin is equally fun to observe. What makes this movie endearing is the simple life that the titular L\u00e9on (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.<\/p>\n

While the action sequences in L\u00e9on: The Professional<\/em> are top-notch, the characters make the movie so much better. Since most people never encounter a professional assassin, there\u2019s just this assumption that they\u2019re always out killing people. Instead, there\u2019s understandable caution and an almost savant level of adherence to rules that keep these professional killers alive to cash in on the next death they\u2019re hired to accomplish. That L\u00e9on would risk his safety to rescue Matilda (a young Natalie Portman) showed that he wasn\u2019t a heartless murderer. And while L\u00e9on is skilled at killing, knowing that he has weaknesses when it comes to reading and money makes him a well-rounded character.<\/p>\n

Still, seeing Portman and Oldman early in their careers is worth the watch here. I constantly quote Oldman\u2019s \u201cEveryone!\u201d even if the reality of his character highlights the corruption of government law enforcement. Similarly, Portman delivers an impressive performance that feels like it crosses the line between a girl crushing on an older man and something much more inappropriate for a girl of her age. In the end, L\u00e9on: The Professional<\/em> is an entertaining film and a must-watch for anyone who likes these actors or the works of Luc Besson.<\/p>\n

Superb performances that highlight the simple life of an assassin, I give L\u00e9on: The Professional<\/em> 4.0 stars out of 5.<\/p>\n

\"255px-Five-pointed_star_svg\"\u00a0\"255px-Five-pointed_star_svg\"\u00a0\"255px-Five-pointed_star_svg\"\u00a0\"255px-Five-pointed_star_svg\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

L\u00e9on: The ProfessionalYear: 1994Rating: RLength: 110 minutes \/ 1.83 hours There\u2019s something oddly satisfying about watching a professional do their job. The ease with which these people do the thing they\u2019ve trained extensively to do is almost mesmerizing. While this usually applies to creative types, with Luc Besson\u2019s L\u00e9on: The Professional (1994), a skilled assassin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,2],"tags":[685,3461,1195,847,843,13,1777,8,3460],"class_list":["post-3581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4-0-stars","category-movie","tag-685","tag-assassin","tag-gary-oldman","tag-leon-the-professional","tag-luc-besson","tag-movie","tag-natalie-portman","tag-review","tag-the-professional"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3581"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3587,"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3581\/revisions\/3587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benjamin-m-weilert.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}