Léon: The Professional
(1994)
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Léon: The Professional
(1994)
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Watch Trailer 0Share... |
Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Jean Reno | ... | ||
Gary Oldman | ... | ||
Natalie Portman | ... | ||
Danny Aiello | ... | ||
Peter Appel | ... | ||
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Willi One Blood | ... |
1st Stansfield Man
(as Willie One Blood)
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Don Creech | ... | ||
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Keith A. Glascoe | ... | |
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Randolph Scott | ... | |
Michael Badalucco | ... | ||
Ellen Greene | ... | ||
Elizabeth Regen | ... | ||
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Carl J. Matusovich | ... | |
Frank Senger | ... | ||
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Lucius Wyatt Cherokee | ... |
Tonto
(as Lucius Wyatt 'Cherokee')
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After her father and little brother are killed by her father's employers, the 12-year-old daughter of an abject drug dealer is forced to take refuge in the house of a professional murderer who by her request, teaches her the methods of his job so she can take her revenge from the corrupted DEA agent who ruined her life by killing her brother out of no actual reason. Written by J. S. Golden
luc besson will never top this movie. This is his benchmark, his classical composition. Look at the precise, intricate scenes. It's a symphony in cinema. Straight off, it's action. Intelligently shot, and scripted. It makes everything that follows hard to live upto. But it does so easily. It's stylish without being showy, it's deep without being sentimental. And it's just hugely enjoyable. Seeing the friendship between newly orphaned mathilda and skilled assasin leon bloom, is tenderly done. At risk of slipping into a sappy bond, besson keeps it easy on the emotions, without coming off as shallow.
The actors are all spot on, most notably the debut from a young natalie portman as mathilda. Showing an angry, sad, pent up, in love girl is no simple task but she breezes through it, touching all the right notes. And jean reno as the title character, is minimal but very effecting. Hard to understand, but easy to relate too. But gary oldman steals it, with his glorious overacting. He's as scary as he is determind. His line delivery is almost perfect. And his fate is very fitting. If only they made more intelligent action movies, then they could contend with this film. But as it stands right now, leon is one of the best action dramas ever made.