Leon: The Professional: Portman, Oldman, Reno Are a Dream Team!

So you want to see Natalie Portman act? Okay. First, put the kids to bed. You won't want them seeing this. Now, go rent Leon. You might see it listed as Leon the Professional, but whatever you do, make sure the name Leon is in the title! What that means is that the movie you're getting isn't the original American theatrical release, but the international release. It has 23 additional minutes of footage that were cut out of the American release and change the feel of the movie quite a bit. Now, pop it in the DVD player and have a seat.

In this 1994 movie, Natalie Portman is very young. She was twelve or thirteen at the time of filming. She's playing the daughter of abusive parents who, near the beginning of the movie, are killed. She has some of the most disturbing scenes I've seen in a movie, but I don't want to spoil it for you! The script gave her free reign to show her talent, and not many movies since have done so. While her character is twelve years old, she is very grown up. Some of the ideas presented are risque, which is why there were separate American and International cuts.

Also making the movie spectacular are Jean Reno and Gary Oldman. Jean Reno is one of those faces you might recognize before his name, but he's been in lots of movies, perhaps most popularly The Da Vinci Code. He plays Leon, who is an assassin who grudgingly takes Portman's character in when her family is killed.

Gary Oldman plays a crooked cop with a drug problem (and you'll come to think mental issues as well). His performance was given a thumbs-down by Siskel and Ebert when the movie came out, due to it being over the top, but most of the movie is over the top, and I think that the acting fit in just fine. Oldman has most recently been seen in Dark Knight, the new Batman movie.

Luc Besson directed this film; he is a French director also known for giving us The Fifth Element. More recently, he directed Arthur and the Invisibles.

Altogether, Leon is a great, fun movie. It's got quirks, and it's not one of those movies that seem prepackaged. There are parts that might be shocking, but none of it is what you expect. It's nice to have something original to watch.