Sunday, April 13, 2014

Blind Spot Fixed: Léon, The Professional


Life has taught me that it's always easier to just give your thumbs up to something than to back off and share your doubts on it. Add to that the fact that I can't really get angry - like, ANGRY angry - and think fighting is sort of useless, and you have me slightly afraid of the reactions to this post. Let's cut to the slack: I wasn't the biggest fan of Léon, my April entry to the Blind Spot series. It's a movie I've been aware of for a long time now and I've been close to picking it up several times on flea markets and the like. As all of the movies I chose for this blogathon, it's one of the highest ranked films on IMDBs Top 250 that I haven't seen until now - and this is a list I have only had good experiences with so far. Not that Léon was a bad experience. In fact, I acknowledge it to be a good, solid film with an unusual story and great characters. Still, I'm not a fan.

Léon *surprise surprise* is the name of the male lead of this film, played by the wonderful Jean Reno. With his trademark John Lennon sunglasses and fisherman's hat, he's a professional assassin who has built himself a nice quiet life full of routine. He has a moral code of not killing men and children, which distinguishes him from other people in this film. One day, he meets Mathilda, a very young Natalie Portman who's more of a black swan than anything in this film. Her family was killed by drug dealers (or something like that, whatever, Gary Oldman is terrifying) that are now after her, so Léon takes care of her and teaches her how to "clean" (I will never be able to tidy up the house again without thinking of murder).



The film is a typical Cult-Classic-Favorite-Critics-Darling that should've won me over right away. Jean Reno creates a recognizable character that will go down in film history, and so does Natalie Portman with a performance that let's other child actors look like extras. Seemingly effortlessly, she surprises - even shocks - the audience with her depiction of a highly damaged, premature child and never let's Reno or Oldman overshadow her in any way. Léon is best when it just focuses on the two main characters talking and interacting with each other. Especially the re-enactment of other movies is fun to watch. Even the humorous montages of assassinations and triangle scenes like Mathilda and Léon checking into the hotel are fun - it has to be somewhere in between all this greatness that the film looses me.

Perhaps it's the score; that melodramatic, stringy, synthesized 90s score that already made me freak out during Betty Blue. It's not that this movie seems flawed to me or bad for that matter - it just depresses the hell out of me. In a bad way. Not in a beautiful the-Black-Swan-has-to-die or in-that-moment-we-were-infinite kind of way, but in a characters-taking-hard-drugs kind of way. It repels me. I don't feel like watching it while I'm watching it and I don't feel like watching anything else after watching it. That's not the kind of feeling movies I like evoke in me. So while Léon: The Professional is definitely a good, original movie I would recommend, it's not a movie I like.

LÉON: THE PROFESSIONAL
1994 • France • English/ Italian

director and author Luc Besson
pictures Thierry Arbogast
★ Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman

FINAL FRAME: HYBRID
Special delivery huh... Let me guess... Chinese? Thai, maybe?“


NEXT UP: REAR WINDOW (1954)

30 comments:

  1. Didn't like Leon, eh? I guess nobody's perfect.

    Just kidding.

    I love the movie, but I understand it's just not for everybody. You expressed very well why it's not for you. At least it's no longer a blind spot.

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    1. Thank God, you don't know how hard it was to write this. I knew from the second the movie started that this would probably be my conclusion and so I was really in pain for most of the time.

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  2. Aw, I'm bummed you didn't like this one a bit more! I know how that goes though, I just finished one of my Blind Spots and didn't like it either.

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    1. Oh, I'll be excited to read about that! Yes, it's always a bit sad when something you anticipate so much doesn't turn out that well.

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  3. I think I understand why you get here with it, but I love it--I think it's one of the best movies of its year. That said, it's not one I choose to watch that often, mostly for the reasons you suggest.

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    1. That's good to know, I mean I know it's very popular and all that. But you guys seem to get why it's not one I loved.

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  4. LOL at your ratings Mette, they're the funniest. I'm the same, I haaate to not like something and say that I didn't like it and then have to hear people scream at me because I didn't like it. And when I write a negative review (which is pretty much never), I'm so polite about it that I annoy myself.

    But so yeah, I haven't seen this one; not really rushing to either. And also yes, it's always worse when a cult/classic doesn't impress us... I always feel like I'm missing something.

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    1. Haha, thanks! I need to make new drawings - I don't look like that anymore, actually that's not even my go-to movie watching sweater anymore either. Yep, I seldom write negative reviews either - I don't know if I've ever used my Lime Explosion rating though I think I used the Lime once. Sometimes it can be fun to watch "bad" movies and write about them but it kinda sucks when it's a cult or a classic.

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  5. Good review! I've always wanted to see it (though it's not exactly a front liner in my watch list). I agree with Sofia, when a cult/classic movie doesn't impress - I get the same feeling when I watch something that I'm supposed to love. I'm not defending the love for it, but maybe it might also be caused by the hype of the film? There are certain films that people love and I fall in the minority, one of the reasons being that everyone clamors that it's great, so there's a point of expectation? Hence I now avoid reviews of movies I absolutely must see in the immediate future, so I don't expect much from it.

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    1. Thanks! Expectations are probably part of the problem, which is one of the reasons I can't bring myself to watch Citizen Kane. No matter how hard I will try, I will never again reach a level where I have no expectations for tha tmovie.Instant hype, like we experience with new movies, is another dangerous thing - even though I think people are more forgiving if you didn't like 12 Years a Slave (okay bad example, personal experience) than if you don't like Casablanca.

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  6. SUCH a long time since I last saw Leon, but saying that, still remember I adore the film. Yeah, it's not for everyone. It's performances from Reno, Oldman and Portman which make the film for me. Especially Oldman - he puts on a special brand of crazy.

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    1. I'm glad you say it's not for everyone - it just really isn't. The performances were mainly what got my through it and yeah, Oldman does shine in this.

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  7. So you didn't like this. There are worse crimes in the movie loving world. At least you gave praise to Natalie Portman and the other cast members involved. That's a good sign

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    1. Hahah, you don't seem satisfied with me here Vern. Or am I getting the wrong impression?

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  8. I finally watched Léon recently after being recommended it for years, and loved it but I totally get why you didn't enjoy it and really liked your review! I have the same thing with not liking cult/classics where you feel like there's something wrong with you for not loving it, glad other people are the same...

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    1. Hi Maria - thanks for commenting! As with most of the other people who commented here, I'm so happy nobody is being super rude or anything, haha. But yes, I tried to remain polite, which I think is the right way - you have to be able to explain why you don't like a movie - or at least try to explain.

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  9. Glad I'm not the only one who didn't dig a Blind Spot entry!

    Natalie Portman's and Gary Oldman's names and the fact that you say it was a good film have me convinced to see this, even if you didn't like it. Great review, and your honesty and open-mindedness are admirable!

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    1. You know what? The fact that I convinced you to watch a film in a non-positive review feels like a pretty nice accomplishment. - Aaaand I'm off to read your entry!

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  10. I remember enjoying Leon a lot when I saw it, but I can't argue with your take. Besson's films are often pretty divisive. A lot of people love La Femme Nikita, but I've heard similar reactions to that film. You're hardly tearing it down either; it just didn't work for you.

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    1. Interesting - I haven't seen any of Besson's other movies but I'm definitely intending to do so. That alone shows I'm not tearing down the movie, right? He seems like an interesing director that I happened not to like one work of.

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  11. I love your honesty! I like this, but did not love it (outside of Portman, who was outstanding). Besson is a very individualized director...his films all carry a similar weight and feel to them. Although, when he allows the fun to come through I think he does a better job.

    Case-in-point: The Fifth Element

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    1. The Fifth Element looks like crazy fun, I hope I'll be able to check it out soon. Not sure if I'm looking forward to his other movies but some of them are essential so I'll get around to watching them one time or another. And I agree, Portman is the shining star of this film.

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  12. I'm not sure if I've said this aloud yet, but I'm enjoying the fact that people aren't feeling compelled to praise their blindspot selections just because they come so highly praised. It's all a matter of taste, right? What it sounds like, more than anything else, is that this film just wasn't engaging for you - not that you didn't like it (though I'd wager you didn't), but that it was missing that ineffable quality that makes a film grab you by your collar and not let go for two hours.

    In other words, remember how you felt watching AMERICAN HISTORY X? This movie didn't spark that feeling in you.

    Well, good effort - you gave it your attention and that's all anyone can ask. As someone who does love this film, I'd suggest you come back to it sometime down the road...but for now there are too many more to watch for the first time.

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    1. You mean you think I should be able not to comment most of your blind spot entries with "Never heard of it"? No, you found a nice way to say that, it's fine - and I agree. It's a film that needs revisiting in another frame of mind but I need to get my vocabulary a tiny bit more straight until then. Watch some more Besson movies, some more Oldman, Portman - perhaps even Reno (I feel like he doesn't get enough praise for... anything).

      This movie was definitely a bit of a bummer compared to American History X but I was very determined to watch it as 'just another movie' and not try to expect another mind-blow. It's true, I wouldn't say I liked Leon. It was okay and it's a good film, that's what I can say.

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  13. I know your pain writing about a "classic" movie everyone loves. I added this to my must watch list. I didn't realize how many modern classics I'd missed. Cheers.

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    1. Yes and the more you read about classics, research and the more you watch (because after that you go through people's filmographies etc.), the more "classics you have to watch" are added to your list. Hope this one will work out better for you than it did for me!

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  14. I love the heck out of Leon (the international/director's cut, not the crappy American cut. Yes, there's a HUGE difference).

    FYI, they were crooked cops (DEA in particular, who deal with drugs). Also, I feel everyone here missed a great opportunity when saying "It's not for everyone." I think they meant "not for EV-RY-ONE!" Oh, Oldman...

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    1. Hahaha, yeah I think that's what they really meant. Wow, didn't know there's a different cut... no idea which one I watched though. I don't have it anymore so there's no possibility of finding out.

      Thanks for sorting the drug thing out... I think I'm a case of movie-bad-guys-dyslexia. They're Bad Guys. There are drugs involved. That's all I got.

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    2. The "Leon" cut (aka the better one) has all the stuff where they go around training/shooting people in their apartments, the big Russian Roulette scene, and the bits where Mathilda tries to kiss and/or have sex with Leon. The American cut removes all that.

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    3. Oh, I did see that one! Can't imagine the movie without those scenes, they were some of the best stuff in there!

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Let the discussion begin!