LÉON: THE PROFESSIONAL (1994) – TOP 100 GREATEST MOVIES NO. 85 – REEL CHAT 80.0

Reel Chat

Welcome to Episode 80 of the “Reel Chat Podcast.” This week we continue our countdown of Empire Magazine’s Top 100 Greatest Movies of all time.

Director Luc Besson’s taste for wacky plots, extravagant action and grandiose romance reached its climax with 1994’s “Léon: The Professional” – a deeply strange and much-loved crime movie about a 12-year-old girl, Mathilda, (Natalie Portman), who is rescued by a hit man after her family is massacred by a crazed NYPD detective, played with paint-scrapping vigour by Gary Oldman. Jean Reno is Léon, a hired killer with ‘a heart of gold’; innocent and childlike, he dotes on his house plant, drinks milk and loves Gene Kelly movies. Mathilda, of course, falls in love with him. In the extended version there are quite a few scenes included that US preview audiences rejected; like Mathilda getting drunk in a restaurant and another where she suggests she become Leon’s ‘lover’. According to producer Patrice Ledoux, this kind of content… no, this kind of relationship, was in no way mysterious to the French filmmakers of “Léon: The Professional”. Still, the relationship in the film stays ‘innocent’. 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).

Joining your host Adam Stolfo is Reel Chat regulars Andrew McCaskill, Penny Jelly and Jesse O’Brien. Join the team as they discuss the film’s controversy, it’s legacy, it’s amazing cast, the work of director Luc Besson, it’s two different cuts, eclectic composer Eric Serra’s score, and much, much more!

So does “Léon: The Professional” deserve it’s spot in the Top 100? And is position number 85 where it belongs?

THE TEAM’S REVIEW SCORES

Adam 4 out of 5 – RECOMMEND

Andrew 4 out of 5 – RECOMMEND

Penny 3 1/2 out of 5 – RECOMMEND

Jesse 3 1/2 out of 5 – RECOMMEND