Léon: The Professional
A young teenager lost her very careless parents at an early age, but their murderers will not go unpunished as she becomes his protégée and learns the assassin's trade.
5 October 1962, Paris, France
2 July 1961, Paris, France
26 June 1978, New York City, New York, USA
8 February 1961, France
21 March 1958, New Cross, London, England, UK
6 July 1978, East Meadow, Long Island, New York, USA
16 December 1941, Vancouver, Washington, USA
20 December 1954, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
15 October 1905
October 24, 2014
Luc Besson's original cut feels more like a journey than just a joy-buzzer jolt of action, and the deeper, braver, darker story he set out to tell - a fractured and fractious fairy tale. When people rave about "The Professional," they mean "Léon."
June 04, 2014
Ultimately, like La Femme Nikita, there may be less here than meets the eye. But what does meet the eye is pretty darn thrilling.
June 04, 2014
The most objectionable thing is Gary Oldman's performance, baroque in its awfulness. Almost as bad is the director's attempt to construct a visual style -- and, for that matter, characters -- by piling one mannerism on top of another.
June 04, 2014
No matter what uncomfortable undercurrents the film gives rise to, Besson's skill with action is inventive and creative (and of course over the top).
November 17, 2015
Leon: The Professional is a wonderful character study, enriched by outstanding performances, thrilling action, and a well-rounded script that gives the film an intriguing amount of depth.
June 04, 2014
Leave it to french writer-director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita) to put a kinky twist on Orphan Annie and Daddy Warbucks.
June 04, 2014
The sheer craziness and excessiveness of the movie -- no crazier, perhaps, than many of the American action movies it copies -- never finds a center of gravity.
November 14, 2015
A favorite of IMDb fanboys and reportedly of pedophiles as well, Leon: The Professional is noteworthy as marking French helmer Luc Besson's first American production as well as showcasing the film debut of a then-13-year-old Natalie Portman.
June 04, 2014
Funny, tragic, brilliant and unmissable.
June 04, 2014
Like Quentin Tarantino, Besson has a singular style and directorial sensibility that keeps you watching.
June 04, 2014
The Professional is intriguing, but misses the mark as a potential cult favorite.
June 04, 2014
The Professional is strictly amateur-hour.
