The Professional: a.k.a. "Léon" a.k.a. Gary Oldman can play creepy psycho like no other

Violent, a little discomfiting, and very, very good.

It took me fifteen years to finally watch The Professional, or Léon as it is also called, with Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, and Gary Oldman. It's directed by Luc Besson who also directed another of my favorite movies, The Fifth Element. Mr. Besson must have a thing about violence, and older men with much younger women, and while the age difference isn't as uncomfortable in The Fifth Element, there are times in The Professional when I cringed watching the twelve year old character, Mathilda, with the professional killer old enough to be her grandfather.

The Lolita hints aside, this is a very well written, directed, and acted film. I like my cheesy movies, but I also like solid action movies with cheese thrown in as one of the spices.

The movie starts off introducing Léon, and showing off his skills as a silent, efficient assassin for hire. I can't imagine anyone other than Jean Reno playing this part. He can do the action, but he can also act, which raises this above a, say, Jean Claude Van Damme kind of film.

Then we see young Mathilda sitting outside her apartment smoking a cigarette. It's clear Léon is concerned for her as he asks how she got the undeniable bruise on her face. Mathilda has been watching him closely, too, because she knows how much and what kind of milk he drinks, and offers to buy him some when she goes grocery shopping. However, he is a man who can't afford to get personally involved, so he leaves her and simply goes into his apartment where his only companion is a plant he tends to meticulously, and the darkness as he sleeps sitting upright in a chair.

Enter Stansfield, a pill popping DEA agent who has issues with Mathilda's father. Gary Oldman plays this character with his usual quirky, creepy, 'Christopher Walken ain't got nothin' on me' style. Stansfield gives the man one day to resolve it, and you just know things aren't going to end well for this family. The only thing that saves Mathilda from the blood bath the next day is her grocery shopping trip. There is a heartwrenching scene where she walks up the stairs, sees her apartment surrounded by men with guns and hears them talk about how they shot the whole family, including a little boy. Realizing her family, including the only member she loved (her little brother), is dead, and she should have been, too, she doesn't even look at the apartment, walks straight past the men, and down to Léon's apartment. Léon is involved in her life inextricably after that.

There are several scenes with Mathilda and Léon that are laugh out loud funny. Léon isn't good with people, has obviously had a hard life, and while smart, isn't educated enough to realize his 'friend' who gets him his jobs and 'holds' his money for him is actually ripping him off. Léon has a sweet side that belies his ability to take out an entire S.W.A.T. team if necessary, and it comes out whenever Mathilda is with him.

Mathilda is a normal twelve year old girl in the fact she becomes infatuated with the man who saves her, and who can take on all the bad guys in the world. Her infatuation gets them in trouble and forces them to move a few times because she does typical twelve year old girl things, thinking she's being cute, or grown up, but is just being stupid. She's at the stage in life where she's still a little girl who carries a stuffed bunny with her everywhere, but thinks she's in love with Léon. She makes Léon choke on his milk with her comments several times.

The last third of the movie keeps you on the edge of your seat. Mathilda is determined to kill Stansfield to avenge her little brother, and Léon is determined to protect her. As things comes to a violent head, you're keeping your fingers crossed that everything will work out the way it would in a perfect world.

If you have never seen The Professional I definitely don't want to spoil it for you. It is violent, but not gory. It's a little uncomfortable, but never inappropriate. There are plenty of funny moments throughout to break up the tension, but the action is relentless when things hit the point of no return. It is definitely a movie that earns the title of 'classic', and I certainly won't wait another fifteen years to watch it again!