Barnes & Noble

Bolstering director Luc Besson's and actor Jean Réno's already substantial American followings, The Professional balances its stylish action with a strong, character-driven story. Réno is León, the quiet, expert killer (a.k.a. "cleaner") who takes 12-year-old Mathilda (Natalie Portman in a breakthrough performance) under his wing when her family is slaughtered by a crooked DEA agent (Gary Oldman). The plot involves Mathilda's intense desire to learn the "cleaning" business and exact revenge, but the real story is the developing relationship between the illiterate, socially inept surrogate father in León and the emotionally precocious Mathilda. Changing the familiar Lolita setup so that Mathilda is the aggressor, The Professional becomes a sexless story about a tender, impossible love set against a backdrop of explosions and highly kinetic shoot-outs. Oldman is at his creepiest as the Beethoven-loving villain whose depravity is greatly contrasted by León's emotional innocence. The European cut, recently made available on DVD and titled León: The Professional, includes 24 minutes of deleted footage originally deemed "too explicit" for American audiences. Mostly, however, the restored scenes explore León's past, adding a complexity to his character that is absent from the American release. Tony Nigro

All Movie Guide

As visually stylish as it is graphically violent, this thriller directed by Luc Besson concerns Mathilda (Natalie Portman), a 12-year-old girl living in New York City who has been exposed to the sordid side of life from an early age: her family lives in a slum and her abusive father works for drug dealers, cutting and storing dope. Mathilda doesn't much care for her parents, but she has a close bond with her four-year-old brother. One day, she returns from running an errand to discover that most of her family, including her brother, have been killed in a raid by corrupt DEA agents, led by the psychotic Stansfield (Gary Oldman). Mathilda takes refuge in the apartment of her secretive neighbor, Leon (Jean Reno), who takes her in with a certain reluctance. She discovers that Leon is a professional assassin, working for Tony (Danny Aiello), a mob kingpin based in Little Italy. Wanting to avenge the death of her brother, Mathilda makes a deal with Leon to become his protégée in exchange for work as a domestic servant, hoping to learn the hitman's trade and take out the men who took her brother's life. However, an affection develops between Leon and Mathilda that changes his outlook on his life and career. Besson's first American film boasted 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. Léon was originally released in the U.S. in 1994 as The Professional, with 26 minutes cut in response to audience preview tests. Those 26 minutes were restored in the director's preferred cut, released in 1996 in France as Léon: Version Intégrale and in the U.S. on DVD as Léon: The Professional in 2000. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 043396329188
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: ABC
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound
• Editions: Subtitled, Dubbed
• Time: 1:49:00
• Sales Rank: 3,147

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• The Professional / the Replacement Killers
• Professional / Big Hit

Features: