Leon the professional

A hitman Leon ends up in an unlikely team up with literally the young girl next door in this earlier effort from Luc Besson who for those not in the know will go on to direct the great 5th Element. Leon is a protrait of a very lonely man, a lonely killer 90 percent out of choice rather than anything. Nothing glamorous about Leon. His world is effective world built out of necessity. Is this how Clooney's The American is like? Oldman is his usual menacing crazy self, for this one think a bad version of The bad lieutenant. OldMan would definitely make a great Bad Lieutenant, a man on edge with the world around him slowly unravelling. Some pretty interestingly shot gun play. I like the scene where Leon finally opens the door and the light shines on Portman's face is nice and symbolic or a light finally at the end of the tunnel for her. Portman is good in this and you can see why she was destined for the fame she enjoys today.

The interaction between Reno's Leon and Portman's Matilda is more real than any of the more recent action movie partnering I have seen in a long time. You can see the love and care that Besson invests into his characters. Contrasting her character, Leon's character is almost a child himself and in some scenes Portman's character seems more matured compared to Leon. Strangely enough, the training she under goes with Leon in trying to be a 'cleaner' is the closest to a father figure she ever got hence the core of the relationship of Leon and Mathilda. Scenes of her 'learning the trade' with Reno is strangely tender and effecting. I would give my soul to have her in “Super” instead of Ellen Paige. It would have been so much better! Like a different movie ? The focus of Leon would be Portman's Mathilda as she is almost every scene.

The father-daughter interaction in the “practice kills” are hillarious, much like a father would teach a daughter how to ride a bike. Taken as a whole does the plot of the movie works? Yes, it does. Jaded audiences desentisized with movies like Crank, Death Race and other 1 billion a second action, a slow but hot brewer like Leon is like a breath of fresh air. This one revived my interest in the hitman genre somewhat so 4 stars.