leon the professional movie reviews

The Professional

History repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. So, apparently, do the films of Luc Besson . In 1992 he made “ La Femme Nikita ,” which in its cold sadness told the story of a tough street girl who became a professional killer and then a civilized woman. Now he has made “The Professional,” about a tough child who wants to become a professional killer, and civilizes the man she chooses as her teacher.

Besson seems fascinated by the “Pygmalion” story, by the notion of a feral street person who is transformed by education. He crosses that with what seems to be an obsession with women who kill as a profession. These are interesting themes, and if “The Professional” doesn’t work with anything like the power of “La Femme Nikita,” it is because his heroine is 12 years old, and we cannot persuade ourselves to ignore that fact. It colors every scene, making some unlikely and others troubling.

The film opens with one of those virtuoso shots which zips down the streets of New York and in through a door, coming to a sudden halt at a plate of Italian food and then looking up at its owner. Besson must have been watching the opening of the old Letterman show. The man eating the food is a mob boss, played by Danny Aiello , who wants to put a contract on a guy. The man who has come whizzing through the streets is Leon ( Jean Reno ), a skillful but uneducated “cleaner,” or professional hitman.

We see him at work, in opening scenes of startling violence and grim efficiency. In the course of the movie, Leon will, in effect, adopt his neighbor Matilda ( Natalie Portman ), a tough, streetwise, 12-year old girl. She escapes to Leon’s nearby apartment after her family has been wiped out by a crooked top DEA enforcer named Stansfield ( Gary Oldman ), who wants to kill her too. Matilda wants to hire Leon to avenge the death of her little brother; in payment, she offers to do his laundry.

Leon wants nothing to do with the girl, but she insists, and attaches herself like a leech. Eventually she develops an ambition to become a cleaner herself. And their fate plays out like those of many another couple on the lam, although with that 30-year age difference.

Matilda is played with great resourcefulness by Portman, who is required by the role to be, in a way, stronger than Leon. She has seen so many sad and violent things in her short life, and in her dysfunctional family, that little in his life can surprise her. She’s something like the Jodie Foster character in “ Taxi Driver ,” old for her years. Yet her references are mostly to movies: “Bonnie and Clyde didn’t work alone,” she tells him. “Thelma and Louise didn’t work alone. And they were the best.” (To find a 12-year old in 1994 who knows “ Bonnie and Clyde ” is so extraordinary that it almost makes everything else she does plausible.) So Leon finds himself saddled with a little sidekick, just when the manic Stansfield is waging a personal vendetta against him.

Although “The Professional” bathes in grit and was shot in the scuzziest locations New York has to offer, it’s a romantic fantasy, not a realistic crime picture. Besson’s visual approach gives it a European look; he finds Paris in Manhattan. That air of slight displacement helps it get away with various improbabilities, as when Matilda teaches Leon to read (in a few days, apparently), or when Leon is able to foresee the movements of his enemies with almost psychic accuracy.

This gift is useful during several action sequences in “The Professional,” when Leon, alone and surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of law officers, is able to conceal himself in just such a way that when the cops enter an apartment in just such a manner, he can swing down from the ceiling, say, and blast them. Or he can set a trap for them. Or he can apparently teleport himself from one part of an apartment to another; they think they have him cornered, but he’s behind them. So many of the movie’s shoot-outs unfold so conveniently for him that they seem choreographed. The Oldman character sometimes seems to set himself up to be outsmarted, while trying to sneak up on Leon in any way not actually involving chewing through the scenery.

The premise “La Femme Nikita” was that its heroine began as a thoroughly uncivilized character without a decent bone in her body, and then, after society exploited her savagery, she was slowly civilized through the love of a good, simple man. “The Professional” uses similar elements, rearranged. It is a well-directed film, because Besson has a natural gift for plunging into drama with a charged-up visual style. And it is well acted.

But always at the back of my mind was the troubled thought that there was something wrong about placing a 12-year-old character in the middle of this action. In a more serious movie, or even in a human comedy like Cassavetes’ “ Gloria ,” the child might not have been out of place. But in what is essentially an exercise – a slick urban thriller – it seems to exploit the youth of the girl without really dealing with it.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

• Gary Oldman as Stansfield
• Natalie Portman as Matilda
• Danny Aiello as Tony
• Jean Reno as Leon

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The Professional Reviews

As an action thriller, often stylized with violence and irony, never loses its pulse or sense of intrigue as it explores the urban tale about the professional killer who protects the orphan girl in the corrupt streets of New York. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 6, 2024

‘…Leon: The Professional is notable for a trio of iconic performances from Jean Reno, Natalie Portman and Gary Oldman, the latter setting a gold standard for manic villainy that’s rarely been bettered…’

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 29, 2024

This picture is bracing and moving, flippant and cutesy, even. Oh, and unsettling to the point of disturbing, borderline repellent.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 17, 2023

...a mostly enthralling thriller that captures the viewer’s interest and attention from the word go...

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 13, 2022

There's a surprising amount of depth, drama, and affection for a film marketed primarily as a shoot-'em-up thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Sep 14, 2020

... the awesomeness of some of its scenes like the final showdown which is just breathtaking in its beautiful violence.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Apr 19, 2020

Unquestionably, Leon is an absolute masterpiece with some jaw-dropping performances from Natalie Portman, Jean Reno, and a turned-up-to-11 Gary Oldman.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10 | Nov 19, 2019

Luc Besson's first English-language hit is, like much of the Frenchman's work, less than subtle, yet it is stylish, disturbing and weirdly moving.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 11, 2019

The tricky character dynamics, remarkable performances, and thrilling action of Leon has never been topped in Besson's 30+ year career.

Full Review | Nov 6, 2018

Holds up as an exciting and dangerous ride through a city that still exists in the mind.

Full Review | Aug 28, 2018

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.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 17, 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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Nov 14, 2015

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 "Lon."

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Oct 24, 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).

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 4, 2014

Leave it to french writer-director Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita) to put a kinky twist on Orphan Annie and Daddy Warbucks.

Full Review | Jun 4, 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.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 4, 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.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 4, 2014

The Professional is intriguing, but misses the mark as a potential cult favorite.

The Professional is strictly amateur-hour.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Jun 4, 2014

Like Quentin Tarantino, Besson has a singular style and directorial sensibility that keeps you watching.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 4, 2014

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FILM REVIEW

FILM REVIEW; He May Be a Killer, But He's Such a Sweetie

By Janet Maslin

• Nov. 18, 1994

As the first American big-studio film about a man who dearly loves his houseplant, "The Professional" is bound to raise eyebrows. And raise them on both sides of the Atlantic, since this is the work of the film world's most attention-getting man without a country, Luc Besson.

In "La Femme Nikita," Mr. Besson stylishly melded American luridness with Gallic sophistication, though the violence level was enough to dismay French audiences and prompt a coarse American remake ("Point of No Return"). Emboldened by the success of that hybrid, Mr. Besson has now made a film in New York, featuring characters who speak like Americans, think like Frenchmen and behave appallingly in any language. "The Professional" lacks the sexy elan of "La Femme Nikita" and suffers from infinitely worse culture shock.

The man with the plant is Leon (Jean Reno), a gentle, childlike soul. He lives a quiet life, drinking milk and dusting his plant's leaves. ("It's my best friend," he says about the plant, thus helping more obtuse members of the audience. "Always happy. No questions. It's like me, you see.") He is also seen watching a Gene Kelly movie, which fills him with an innocent delight. How strange it is that he happens to be a paid killer!

By chance, a young girl named Mathilda (Natalie Portman) becomes Leon's soul mate. This wistful, pretty creature is his neighbor in a New York apartment house, one of the many Manhattan locations that Mr. Besson films peculiarly, with a loving attention to other films about New York rather than New York life.

Leon sometimes sees the girl in the hallway, where she sits smoking pensively, wearing the bobbed hair, black choker and striped jersey that make her look like a mini-Parisian streetwalker and certainly like a pederast's delight. "Is life always this hard?" she asks Leon one day. "Or just when you're a kid?"

"Always, I guess," Leon thoughtfully replies.

Mathilda's life becomes hard when her entire sleazy family is rubbed out by Gary Stansfield (Gary Oldman), a fantastically corrupt drug-enforcement agent who says things like "Death is whimsical today." In this preposterous role, Mr. Oldman expresses most of the film's sadism as well as many of its misguidedly poetic sentiments. During the buildup to an ugly shootout, he even claims that the calm before the storm reminds him of Beethoven, a thought that may help viewers get through the nastiness that follows. (Mr. Oldman will actually be playing Beethoven in another, less gun-toting movie, "Immortal Beloved," soon.)

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Metacritic reviews

Léon: the professional.

• 91 Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum Ah, monsieur, you can lead a Frenchman to the Big Apple, but you can't make him a New Yorker -- and that's exactly what makes The Professional so fascinating.
• 90 Washington Post Hal Hinson Washington Post Hal Hinson Oldman is the least inhibited actor of his generation, and as this deranged detective, he keeps absolutely nothing in reserve.
• 80 The A.V. Club The A.V. Club Few action films can claim such complexities without conceding the bang-bang stuff that brings in the big money.
• 78 Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov Besson's visuals are, as always, vibrant and decidedly European. He fills the frames with odd-angled shots and alarming riots of color that catch you off-balance.
• 75 ReelViews James Berardinelli ReelViews James Berardinelli With some surprisingly strong character interaction, there's a lot to like about this movie, at least for those willing to look beyond all the bloodshed.
• 70 Time Richard Schickel Time Richard Schickel This is a Cuisinart of a movie, mixing familiar yet disparate ingredients, making something odd, possibly distasteful, undeniably arresting out of them. [5 Dec 1994, p. 93]
• 63 Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert Besson has a natural gift for plunging into drama with a charged-up visual style.
• 63 The Globe and Mail (Toronto) The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Takes its viewers on a bouncing high-wire act between intense violence and sugar-sweet tenderness, with some light-hearted comedy along the way.
• 50 Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum The sheer oddness of the New York world constructed for this film--where cops and crooks are literally interchangeable, and Oldman and Danny Aiello are stranded in roles that pick over the leavings of earlier parts--ultimately seems at once too deranged and too mechanical.
• 30 The New York Times Janet Maslin The New York Times Janet Maslin Lacks the sexy elan of "La Femme Nikita" and suffers from infinitely worse culture shock. [18 Nov 1994, p.C18]
• See all 12 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for Léon: The Professional

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Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Léon: The Professional: The Unconventional Cult Classic at 30

September 14, 2024 by admin

30 years on from its release, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind Luc Besson’s cult classic Léon: The Professional…

Léon: The Professional is important for a number of reasons. The controversial hitman film introduced audiences to a young Natalie Portman, gave Jean Reno wider recognition and reminded how much Hollywood needs Gary Oldman. But I digress, here’s the story of what went on behind-the-scenes during the making of Léon: The Professional thirty years ago…

The movie was an expansion of Luc Besson’s concept for one of his early efforts 

Frequently associated with the Cinéma du look film movement, French filmmaker and producer Luc Besson helmed efforts like suspense thriller Subway and docudrama Big Blue before making his big break with La Femme Nikita in 1990. The hard-edged, psycho-romance thriller headlined by Anne Parillaud received rave reviews at the time of its release and spawned multiple remakes in different countries and two English-language television series based on the concept. During an interview Besson revealed that Léon: The Professional was to some extent an expansion of the concept he explored in La Femme Nikita where Jean Reno played a similar character named Victor. Besson described Léon as “the American cousin of Victor”.

A strange love affair may have influenced the story’s development

Luc Besson has had a string of relationships with actresses in the past marrying a total of four times. After his divorce from Le Femme Nikita’s lead actress Anne Parillaud, the filmmaker got involved in a romantic relationship with Maïwenn Le Besco, who played the bumbling drug dealer’s “Blonde Babe” in the opening sequence of Léon: The Professional . According to Le Besco, Besson based part of the movie’s story on their real-life love affair which had taken place few years prior.

Jean Reno’s creative choice was a stroke of genius 

During the 90’s Jean Reno was one of the most sought-after talents in the industry playing pivotal roles in efforts such as Mission: Impossible , Godzilla , French Kiss and Ronin . Reno even turned down the offer to play the role of Agent Smith in The Matrix . In Léon: The Professional , Reno consciously decided to play the titular character as an emotionally restrained and mentally challenged individual as it would make audiences realize that Léon would not be the type of person to take the mean advantage of a vulnerable young girl. Reno even went to the extent of allowing Natalie Portman to be emotionally in charge of the scenes they both shared in. Although Luc Besson had written Léon’s part with Jean Reno in mind, several Hollywood heavyweights such as Mel Gibson and Keanu Reeves had showed a keen interest in the role at the time.

The flick was Natalie Portman’s acting debut 

Natalie Portman is an actress who has received high praise for her various performances over the years. After gaining a wider recognition with the Star Wars prequel films Portman’s involvement in such efforts as Closer , V for Vendetta and The Other Boleyn Girl made her one of the most sought after talents in the early to mid-2000s. Her status as a serious dramatic actor was cemented, however, with her brilliantly visceral take on a tortured ballerina in 2010’s Black Swan . But many forget that Portman’s acting career was kickstarted in none other than Léon: The Professional where she embodied the role of the precocious yet charming Mathilda. Portman beat out over two thousand actresses to nab the role which was eyed by the likes of Liv Tyler and Christina Ricci.

About that unforgettable turn by Gary Oldman 

Gary Oldman is the actor’s actor. The Übermensch of method acting. There’s nary two performances of his that are alike in his vast and vibrant body of work. Although the chap’s played good guys in movies it is with more villainous roles that Oldman delivered some truly iconic and unforgettable performances. In Léon: The Professional , Oldman plays the corrupt, pill-popping DEA agent Norman Stansfield who guns down Mathilda’s entire family during a drug deal gone wrong. Stansfield is the epitome of amorality, deriving pleasure from his unhinged killing sprees whilst listening to Beethoven and engaging in illicit activities despite being a narcotics officer. Many film critics relished Oldman’s deliciously OTT approach with Time magazine’s Richard Schickel describing the performance as “delightfully psychotic”. Interestingly, the same year this movie came out, the actor portrayed Ludwig van Beethoven in the biographical drama Immortal Beloved .

The sequel film that never happened and most likely never will 

Over the years numerous rumors swirled that in the industry that Luc Besson had in fact written a script for a Léon: The Professional sequel film. The movie would have seen Natalie Portman reprising the Mathilda role with Transporter 3 director Olivier Megaton in talks to helm the effort. However, none of this came to pass because Besson departed from the Gaumont Film Company – which bankrolled Léon and The Fifth Element – to form his own movie studio, EuropaCorp and Gaumont was dissatisfied with the filmmaker’s decision. To express their disappointment the production company didn’t part with the IP prompting Besson to recycle the ideas he had for the sequel to make the Zoe Saldana headlined Columbiana in 2011.

Certain scenes didn’t sit well with test audiences 

Léon: The Professional was first test screened in Los Angeles, California prior to its release. And the version that was screened included a short scene where Mathilda asked Léon to be her lover. The test audience were unsure how to react to that scene and began to laugh nervously which completely destroyed the overall experience of the movie leading to terrible test screen scores. This prompted writer/director Luc Besson and producer Patrice Ledoux to remove that particular scene for the theatrical release. However, that scene and several others which amounted to 25 minutes of additional footage were included in the extended version of the film.

The end title song was repurposed for a James Bond film 

Film Composer Éric Serra had collaborated with director Luc Besson on multiple instances so it came as no surprise that the musician also got invited to compose music for Léon: The Professional . Serra crafted the song “The Experience of Love” as the end title song for the movie, however, the producers decided to use Sting’s “Shape of My Heart” instead. As a result Serra ended up reusing the song for the end credits of his next effort which was none other than Pierce Brosnan’s first outing as super-agent James Bond in 1995’s GoldenEye . The basic melody of the song can still be heard in the film and on the soundtrack, via the cue “The Game is Over”.

Natalie Portman has complicated feelings about the movie

Since its release Léon: The Professional has been re-examined critically in the wake of the #MeToo movement following allegations that were leveled against Luc Besson in 2018. His ex-wife Maïwenn’s comments regarding the story of the film being based on their love affair has also sparked controversy from time to time. After all, the actress was sixteen years old when she was romantically linked with Besson who was aged 33 at the time of production. Even actress Natalie Portman has chimed in about her “complicated feelings” about the effort and the Lolita-esque sexualization her character had in the movie.

Commercial success, critical acclaim & legacy

Made on a production budget of $16 million Léon: The Professional went on to make a respectable $45.3 million and remained the number one movie of France for three straight weeks. On the review-aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes the flick holds an approval rating of 74% based on 66 reviews and the sites critic consensus reads as follows, “Pivoting on the unusual relationship between seasoned hitman and his 12-year-old apprentice—a breakout turn by young Natalie Portman—Luc Besson’s Léon is a stylish and oddly affecting thriller”.

Léon: The Professional proved to be a hit with most film critics as well with Mark Salisbury of Empire magazine awarding the film a full five stars writing, “Oozing style, wit and confidence from every sprocket, and offering a dizzyingly, fresh perspective on the Big Apple that only Besson could bring, this is, in a word, wonderful”. Mark Deming at AllMovie awarded the film four stars out of five, describing it as “As visually stylish as it is graphically violent”, and featuring “a strong performance from Jean Reno, a striking debut by Natalie Portman, and a love-it-or-hate-it, over-the-top turn by Gary Oldman”.

Since its debut the movie has influenced a plethora of actioners that followed in its wake such as Kiss of the Dragon , The Transporter , Unleashed , Taken and the Equalizer series. In a poll conducted by Time Out in 2014, which saw critics, filmmakers, actors and stuntmen list their top action flicks, saw Léon: The Professional nab the 42nd spot in the list. Gary Oldman’s Norman Stansfield has also been named one of cinema’s greatest villains on multiple occasions.

What are your thoughts on Léon: The Professional ? Let us know on our socials @FlickeringMyth … 

Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.

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Léon: the professional.

Directed by Luc Besson

If you want the job done right, hire a professional.

Léon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year-old Mathilda. Before long, Mathilda's thoughts turn to revenge, and she considers following in Léon's footsteps.

Jean Reno Natalie Portman Gary Oldman Danny Aiello Peter Appel Michael Badalucco Ellen Greene Elizabeth Regen Carl J. Matusovich Eric Challier Willi One Blood Don Creech Keith A. Glascoe Jernard Burks Matt De Matt Frank Senger Stuart Rudin Lucius Wyatt Cherokee Maïwenn Luc Bernard Joseph Malerba Adam Busch Jessie Keosian George Martin Alex Dezen Michael Mundra Kent Broadhurst Tommy Hollis Peter Linari Show All… Betty Miller Arsène Jiroyan Geoffrey Bateman Peter Vizard David W. Butler Robert LaSardo Steve Gonnelo William James Stiggers Jr. Sonny Zito Randy Pearlstein Jeff McBride Fred Fischer Crystal Blake Cary Wong Mario Todisco Samy Naceri Christophe Gautier Junior Almeida David Gregg Michel Montanary Hervé Husson Didier Legros Marc Andréoni Gilles Kleber Jean-Hugues Anglade Michael Wehrhahn

Director Director

Producers producers.

Patrice Ledoux Cecilia Kate Roque

Writer Writer

Casting casting.

Todd M. Thaler

Editor Editor

Sylvie Landra

Cinematography Cinematography

Thierry Arbogast

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Camille Lipmann Eric McGinty Pascal Chaumeil

Executive Producer Exec. Producer

Claude Besson

Production Design Production Design

Art direction art direction.

Gerard Drolon Carol Nast Wing Lee

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Françoise Benoît-Fresco Carolyn Cartwright

Special Effects Special Effects

Al Griswold Nick Allder

Stunts Stunts

Peter Bucossi Norman Douglass Michael Russo Gino Lucci Don Picard Roy Farfel Frank Ferrara Manny Siverio Garry Pastore Patrick Cauderlier Gregg Smrz

Composer Composer

Sound sound.

Patrice Grisolet Gérard Lamps Bruno Tarrière François Groult

Costume Design Costume Design

Magali Guidasci

Makeup Makeup

Geneviève Peyralade Gigi Williams

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Peggy Nicholson

Gaumont Les Films du Dauphin Columbia Pictures

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

English French Italian

Releases by Date

14 sep 1994, 18 nov 1994, 13 jan 1995, 19 jan 1995, 20 jan 1995, 09 feb 1995, 10 feb 1995, 11 feb 1995, 17 feb 1995, 18 feb 1995, 23 feb 1995, 24 feb 1995, 25 mar 1995, 06 apr 1995, 07 apr 1995, 27 apr 1995, 28 apr 1995, 26 may 1995, 28 jun 1995, 30 jun 1995, 03 aug 1995, 07 sep 1995, 13 jun 1996, 26 jun 1996, 23 sep 1996, 26 jun 1997, 24 jan 1998, 23 sep 1998, 03 sep 1999, 11 apr 2013, 20 jul 2009, 07 nov 1995, 23 nov 1995, 10 may 2000, 20 oct 2009, 04 nov 2009, 01 jun 2010, 19 apr 2003, releases by country.

• Theatrical 16
• Theatrical MA 15+
• Theatrical 14
• Theatrical 12+
• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical K-18
• Physical VHS
• Theatrical director's cut
• Physical LaserDisc
• Theatrical IIB director's cut
• Theatrical 18
• Theatrical A
• Theatrical T
• Theatrical R15+

Netherlands

• TV 16 Net 5
• Physical 16 Blu ray

Philippines

• Theatrical R-18
• Theatrical M/16
• Theatrical 16+

South Korea

• Theatrical 18 re-release
• Physical 15 DVD
• Physical 15 Blu-ray

Switzerland

• Theatrical 輔15
• Theatrical R

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Popular reviews

Review by kayla ★★★★½ 9

I wonder if Natalie Portman ever thinks about how badass it was that she outacted everyone around her at age 13

Review by filmscores ★

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

how do i erase a movie from my memory? the sexualization of mathilda made me very uncomfortable and listening to a 12 year old talk about wanting to “have her first time” with a man quadruple her age is disgusting. not even to mention the sex scene in the script that got cut. did some research on luc besson and found out he impregnated a 16 year old while he was 32.... go figure. man i don’t have time for this shit

Review by Dom ★★★★½ 5

I was intensely worried throughout for the wellbeing of his plant.

Review by aliyah ★★ 140

thirteen year old natalie portman accomplished more with this film than i will with my entire life

EDIT: so i got creepy vibes throughout this film and was really uncomfortable with the sexualisation of mathilda. anyway, i just found out that there was a sex scene in the original cut and that the relationship between leon and mathilda was loosely based off of a real relationship that luc besson had which makes me feel sick for putting that aside so that i could enjoy the film. whilst i enjoyed the acting and cinematography immensely this is not something that i can overlook so i’m not quite sure what to rate this. i’ve also found out that the dress up scene and the conversation about losing her virginity were removed from the american version, which makes sense as to why most people don’t get the same vibe as people who have seen the international version.

Review by kowalski 🫀 ★★★

if natalie portman wants to kill every man who sexualized her at age 12 she should be allowed to do that

Review by amaya ★ 43

could have been rated higher but they had to go ahead and sexualize mathilda

Review by Ayo Edebiri 11

I simply do NOT know about this one, chief!!!

the performances are great but yeeeeeesh.  something about seeing this for the first time then looking at the “Personal life” section of Maïwenn’s wikipedia page felt BAD. 

also! spoiler spoiler spoiler but— the plant’s going to die. it’s a tropical plant and she’s planting it in the ground! so. hopefully someone tells her.

Review by Lucy ★★★★ 3

I HAVEN'T GOT TIME FOR THIS MICKEY MOUSE BULLSHIT

Review by matt lynch ★★ 8

I sure love Gary Oldman in this. Other than that I think it's mostly just dull. But what always starts to gnaw on me every time I try this again is all the corny affectation: Leon's thing for milk, his gawk-eyed awe at Gene Kelly (calm down, I love SINGIN' IN THE RAIN too, but it's cheap shorthand here) or Danny Aiello's cardboard goombah, or the domestic montage set to Bjork. Comparisons to something like Melville don't hold up; none of these characters has any actual inner life. Leon's childlike presentation seems like a cop out to avoid any hint of desire, to nullify any general queasiness you might have about his plainly taboo relationship with Mathilda. When any authority…

Review by rudi ★★★★½ 3

baby Natalie Portman being trained to be an assassin by a soft, Italian hit man... I’m sold

Review by eli the skull 🇵🇸 ½ 7

i loathe this movie because i absolutely loved it when i was a young teenager. it was one of my favorite action thrillers n a big reference for my not yet cinema addicted lil mind . i fell in love w the dynamics of child n badass duo, i loved it cause i saw mathilda as leon's "fashion-savvy" sidekick. but then i made the mistake of growing up n finding out the director got a 15yo pregnant before marrying her, which is what inspired the film in the first place. even worse, he planned to turn reality into fiction by making this a goddamn romance with all the sexually charged interactions between the characters, keeping in mind that mathilda is…

Review by Letterbxd Account ★ 26

From the original screenplay:

MATHILDA Leon, I don't know life very much... I just know I love you... And love is stronger than anything else. Leon is more and more nervous, like a child. LEON Maybe... Sure... But... I'm scared, Mathilda. Leon cries. Mathilda caresses his face. MATHILDA Don't fear, Leon. You mustn't fear love, when it's this beautiful. She caresses his chest. MATHILDA (con't) I want you to be the first to touch me... The first to make love with me. Nobody before you. She stands up and modestly gets off her briefs without taking off her dress. Leon cries, unable to oppose her. Mathilda is too young, but she's also too beautiful and lovely and sweet and tender...…

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Léon: The Professional

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The professional (leon).

• Common Sense Says
• Parents Say 10 Reviews
• Kids Say 21 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Action thriller has violence against kids, strong language.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Professional -- also known by the name Leon and Leon: The Professional -- is a stylish action thriller with plenty of violence, bloody deaths, and strong language. Lead characters Leon (Jean Reno) and 12-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman) have a close bond and…

Why Age 16+?

Graphic violence throughout, including murder, shootings, and explosions caused

Frequent language includes "fat bastard," "f--king," "ass," "s--t," "bitch," "f-

Mobster characters and main villain involved in cocaine dealing. Bags of cocaine

A character grabs his partner's breasts. In a brief scene, they are later distur

Madonna poster in an apartment; a character sings one of her songs. Cats stage s

Any Positive Content?

Mixed messages. Characters convey friendship, teamwork, and courage and live by

Hitman Leon kills for money but has a "no women, no kids" rule for his targets.

Violence & Scariness

Graphic violence throughout, including murder, shootings, and explosions caused by grenades and rockets. A knife is held to someone's throat; people have guns pointed at them or held to them. A character badly wounded in a shoot-out launches grenades strapped to their body, causing a massive explosion that kills both them and another. Violence toward kids. A four-year-old and a teen are killed by corrupt law enforcement agents. A kid is hit by their abusive parent -- seen with a black eye and a bloody nose. While standing in the shower, a character stitches up a bloody wound on their chest. A bloody corpse hangs in an elevator. Characters are thrown over stairwell railings, strangled.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent language includes "fat bastard," "f--king," "ass," "s--t," "bitch," "f--k," "goddamn," and "a--hole." One use of the racial slur "chinks," and the Jamaican expletive "bumboclaat."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Mobster characters and main villain involved in cocaine dealing. Bags of cocaine are shown; dealers cutting it rub it into their gums. A kid regularly smokes cigarettes. A character takes an amphetamine-style pill, which affects their behavior. A kid and their adult guardian drink Champagne and the child gets drunk.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A character grabs his partner's breasts. In a brief scene, they are later disturbed having sex when one of their young children walks in on them. A 12-year-old implies to a stranger that her adult guardian is her "lover." She tries to kiss the guardian, asks to lose her virginity to him; he refuses. Character is seen naked from the waist up in the shower.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Madonna poster in an apartment; a character sings one of her songs. Cats stage show logo visible on theater billboard.

Positive Messages

Mixed messages. Characters convey friendship, teamwork, and courage and live by a moral code. But they kill and use violence, often for money. Law enforcement characters are portrayed as crooked and more morally bankrupt than the film's criminals.

Positive Role Models

Hitman Leon kills for money but has a "no women, no kids" rule for his targets. He is kind to Mathilda, a 12-year-old girl in his apartment block, ends up taking her in as a father figure when her family is killed. Mathilda smokes and swears, hardened by a tough home life -- her father is a drug dealer who hits his daughter. Leon trains her as an assassin to take revenge on her family's killers. Stansfield, a corrupt drug enforcement agent, is a sadistic killer who uses and sells drugs.

Parents need to know that The Professional -- also known by the name Leon and Leon: The Professional -- is a stylish action thriller with plenty of violence, bloody deaths, and strong language. Lead characters Leon ( Jean Reno ) and 12-year-old Mathilda ( Natalie Portman ) have a close bond and behave with a moral code of friendship, teamwork, and respect -- while he also kills for money and she follows a path of revenge. This murky morality sits well in the framework of the movie, which is a more thrill-ride action adventure than a gritty, realistic drama. In contrast to the two "heroes," the villains are suitably loathsome. The violence is frequent and bloody, often involving guns, grenades, and rockets. There are multiple kills, including the murder of two kids: A teenage girl is shot on-screen, and a four-year-old boy is shown in peril but his death isn't shown. Strong language is used throughout, often by Mathilda. She frequently smokes, and gets drunk while drinking with Leon. She also tries to kiss Leon and asks him to take her virginity, but he refuses. Drugs feature throughout as the villains are corrupt cocaine-dealing enforcement agents. The drug is seen in bags and being prepared, and in one scene characters rub it into their gums. The main villain, Stanfield ( Gary Oldman ), also takes amphetamine-style pills that intensify his unpredictable behavior. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Parent and Kid Reviews

• Parents say (10)
• Kids say (21)

Based on 10 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In THE PROFESSIONAL, when 12-year-old Mathilda's ( Natalie Portman ) family is killed by corrupt drug enforcement agents, she is taken in by Leon ( Jean Reno ), an assassin who teaches her his trade.

Is It Any Good?

Luc Besson 's super-stylish action movie is a cool and bloody update of the bad man with a heart of gold story. Sad-eyed Reno is Leon, the milk guzzling lone gunman and THE PROFESSIONAL, who takes Portman's 12-year-old Mathilda under his wing when her family is killed. What follows is an Amelie -style magical realist action picture, albeit with lashings of stylized violence in a movie land version of New York.

Besson draws from the carefree French New Wave and the no-nonsense approach of '80s and '90s American B movies for a tight and direct ride. It's smart, confident, and convincing filmmaking. The same praise can be said of the cast. As Mathilda, Portman's performance -- her debut role -- defies her young years as a character for which there was no previous template. Young killers-in-training are rarely the types of characters to root for. But set against the deliciously detestable corrupt drug enforcement agent, Stanfield ( Gary Oldman ), you can't help but be on the side of Leon and his young apprentice, who as a double act form one of cinema's most unforgettable and unique anti-hero duos.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in The Professional . Was it shocking, or thrilling? Does exposure to violent media desensitize kids to violence?

Discuss the strong language used in the movie . Did it seem necessary, or excessive? What did it contribute to the movie?

Talk about how the movie depicts smoking and drug use . Are they glamorized? Do the characters need to do these things to look cool? What are the consequences ?

Did you find yourself rooting for Leon and Mathilda even though Leon is a hitman? If so, why do you think this was? Discuss what it means to be an anti-hero.

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 18, 1994
• On DVD or streaming : February 24, 1998
• Cast : Jean Reno , Natalie Portman , Gary Oldman
• Director : Luc Besson
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Columbia Pictures
• Genre : Thriller
• Run time : 110 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : scenes of strong graphic violence, and for language.
• Last updated : August 26, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

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Remembering Leon: The Professional, just a perfectly-balanced movie

An american movie with european sensiblities, article bookmarked.

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There are a lot of films you first see as a kid that still loom large for you years later, but upon a re-watch disappoint. Luc Besson’s Leon (1994) is not one of them.

Uniquely and willfully schizophrenic, it feels either like an eccentric French drama masquerading as a violent action movie or vice versa.

One minute Leon and his assassin protégé Mathilda are sitting at the kitchen table of a crumbling, austere flat that could easily be in Montmartre, drinking a tall glass of milk as a desk fan pants round, the next the most archetypal 90s henchmen are descending on the building in cheap suits, brandishing Uzis and barking into walkie-talkies. Then the action is interrupted again by a curmudgeonly old lady at the other end of the hall wondering what all the noise is about.

“I like the balance,” Besson said. “When it’s too much action it’s a little boring for me, when it's too much pink and sweet it’s boring also, so I like to take both and go boom boom boom [between them].”

Gary Oldman echoed his thoughts: “It has the qualities of a big, hard-punching, fast-moving American movie and yet it has an injection of European cinema which I think gives it a very unique look.”

Natalie Portman gives an amazingly deft performance aged just 12, and Jean Reno gets the combination of ruthless adult pragmatism and vulnerable immaturity just right in the lead role, but it is Oldman who delivers an unforgettable performance, which most fans’ minds will immediately jump to when the film is brought up.

Stansfield is a brilliant film villain because his menace, malice and mania are entirely unexplained. He chews pills with convulsive ritual, conducts massacres as symphonies, and lurches between different accents for no apparent reason.

“I liked working with Luc so much that if I actually never worked with another director again it wouldn't worry me,” he said at the time.

“You share ideas and if you come up with one that he likes you can bet your bottom dollar that it’ll go in the movie. The only thing I worked out before I went in was the way I say ‘bingo’ . I think I was just fooling around with it and he liked it so he kept it in."

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Besson’s composition in the movie is perfect, each moment of drama playing out so cinematically, a particular favourite being when Leon opens his door to Mathilda and light floods the hallway. Salvation.

“It was an unusual experience because [Besson] operates the camera,” Oldman explained. “He really was fulfilling what was in his mind, because he was setting up the frame and shooting it as well.”

“He’s able to talk to you inside the scene exactly where you are,” Reno added, “always only one mirror between you and him.”

The relationship between Leon and Mathilda is simultaneously one of father and daughter, teacher and apprentice and outcast and outcast, but there are also undertones of sexuality, Leon choking on his milk as the 12-year-old dresses up as Marilyn Monroe for him, moments before Bjork sings ‘His wicked sense of humour suggests exciting sex’ in the score, a Lolita -esque frisson crucial to the movie that would have resulted in a hundred angry BuzzFeed, Jezebel, Salon etc articles before it even hit cinemas had it been released in 2015.

Leon: The Professional ’s influence can be felt in a number of action films that have followed it, but none have replicated its atmosphere of terror and play, melodrama and mundanity quite so well.

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Classic Movie Review: ‘Léon: The Professional’ (1994)

Uriah Kabemba

[READ FULL BIO]

Screen Rant

"cringey": natalie portman doubles down on her controversial movie.

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Natalie Portman doubles down on criticism of her beloved-but-controversial early movie Leon: The Professional . Released in 1994, Luc Besson’s stylish and action-packed Leon: The Professional introduced a new breakout star in then-12-year-old Portman, who played a young girl who comes under the wing of a brutal hitman played by Jean Reno. Leon at the time was an international hit that garnered critical acclaim, but the film was criticized even then for its sexualization of Portman’s character, a young Lolita figure named Mathilda who was shown, among other things, costumed as Marilyn Monroe and Madonna.

Portman has in the past discussed her own traumatic experience shooting Besson's Leon: The Professional and dealing with the response to the film, and now the actor has doubled-down on her previous criticisms. Speaking to THR from the Cannes Film Festival, Portman first addressed 2018 rape allegations against Besson, saying she was surprised to hear of the case, which was later dismissed. She then went on to make new remarks about Leon itself, discussing the film’s complicated legacy. Check out what she said in the space below:

"It's a movie that's still beloved, and people come up to me about it more than almost anything I've ever made, and it gave me my career, but it is definitely, when you watch it now, it definitely has some cringey, to say the least, aspects to it. So, yes, it's complicated for me."

Portman Has Spoken Out About Her Traumatic Early Acting Experiences Before

Addressing the Women’s March in 2018, Portman shared some of her experiences as a young actor in movies, referring to the “ environment of sexual terrorism ” she endured at the time, and revealing that her first ever fan letter was a rape fantasy sent to her by a man. She said:

“I understood very quickly, even as a 13-year-old, that if I were to express myself sexually I would feel unsafe and that men would feel entitled to discuss and objectify my body to my great discomfort. … I emphasized how bookish I was and how serious I was, and I cultivated an elegant way of dressing. I built a reputation for basically being prudish, conservative, nerdy, serious, in an attempt to feel that my body was safe and that my voice would be listened to. … At 13 years old, the message from our culture was clear to me. I felt the need to cover my body and to inhibit my expression and my work in order to send my own message to the world: that I’m someone worthy of safety and respect.”

The legacy of Portman's breakout movie Leon: The Professional indeed remains complicated, especially given the later accusations against Besson , and particularly in light of revelations by the actor Maïwenn, who said in a 2018 interview that her own underage relationship with Besson was the inspiration for his film. For her part, Portman currently is making the rounds of Cannes to promote her role in May December , a film directed by Todd Haynes in which she stars opposite Julianne Moore.

Source: THR

• Natalie Portman