An instant cult classic, The Professional also launched the career of Natalie Portman. Also known as Leon, the movie was nominated for seven Cesar awards, the French equivalent of the Oscars. It has long been a fixture on the imdb.com's Top 250 list.

Director Luc Besson followed the success of Nikita (1990) with another film about a gorgeous young woman who is trained to be a professional killer. The twist here is that she is only twelve years old.

The strengths of The Professional come from its style and character development. The three leads, Jean Reno, Natalie Portman and Gary Oldman, are well cast and play memorable characters. As was the case with Nikita, the film's weaknesses are its credibility, and its glamorization of contract murders.

I can understand why a twelve year old girl would develop a crush on her protector, even if he is a middle-aged mass murderer. I can accept that the hitman has a code of ethics that includes 'no women or children'. But the film glamorizes the professional killer in general, and the character of Leon in particular.

It's one thing when the killer is James Bond, and he is out to stop Blofield with Life As We Know It on the line. It's a different matter altogether when our hero kills several strangers per week. It matters little that these victim are always men, since the assumption that men are evil and women are good is a cinematic fiction.

He's not killing these people in revenge or self-defense, but for money. He doesn't know why they made Tony's Rolodex file. Maybe they simply couldn't pay back a loan. Or maybe they tried to withdraw too much from from the bank account that exists only in Tony's head. Tony, also, is heavily romanticized, as the world's nicest crime boss.

Leon is a serial killer, even if his victims have all in some way gone astray with the mob. Except for his refusal to harm children, he is no better than the film's requisite bad guy, Stansfield (Oldman).

Cinematic tradition requires Stansfield to be colorful and twisted, like the villains in the Batman films. The problem is, this makes him unlikely to be the top narcotics agent in New York City. They are supposed to be uptight and conservative, like Jack Webb from "Dragnet". I approve of the regular breaking of stereotypes, but I can't buy the tic-ridden, wild-eyed, pill-popping, screaming Stansfield as one of the top-ranking narcotics agents in New York City.

The plot of The Professional can be trashed so easily that it is hardly worth the effort. Stansfield tells Mathilda's father that he will kill him in a few days. How does the father respond? Does he call the police? Does he hide? No, he does nothing. The DEA agents are willing to wipe out the whole family. Is this a regular occurrence for them?

Mathilda seeks refuge with the next door neighbor, Leon, who just happens to be a hitman. Although her family has just been wiped out, she thinks his profession is 'cool'. Further, she wants to become a professional killer herself. Leon, like any good father figure, decides to train her. He is happy to oblige the murderous whims of a twelve year old.

Actually, the least realistic scenes in the film aren't the stylish hits, in which Leon invents creative ways to kill his 'clients'. A filler scene has Mathilda dressing as Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin and Gene Kelly as a bonding exercise with Leon.

Unless those three actors appeared in an episode of "Transformers", I don't see how she knew of their existence. It came as a surprise to me that Leon would have a child-sized Monroe dress in his apartment, but then perhaps his fixations extend beyond single-handedly sustaining the milk industry. It would seem that he has more to fear from kidney stones than he does from bodyguards.

If you are willing to suspend disbelief, then The Professional can be enjoyed as escapist entertainment. There are black comedy touches that work well. Besson knows how to sustain the tension, especially when Oldman is present. Again, the characters have depth and are interesting. But it cannot be considered a great film if you look beyond its style, and instead inspect its underlying themes and assumptions. (65/100)

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Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older