Léon: The Professional

""No women, no kids. That's the rules.""

- Leon

The Professional -- also known as Léon -- is a 1994 film directed by Luc Besson which stars Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, and Natalie Portman in her first major role.

Leone "Léon" Montana (Reno) is a quiet, skilled assassin whose next-door neighbors were just gunned down by drug runners; the only survivor of the massacre is 12-year-old Mathilda Lando (Portman), who begs Léon to save her from the corrupt cops who murdered her family. Léon reluctantly takes Mathilda under his wing and, at her insistence, teaches her in the ways of his trade. Mathilda is intent on avenging her family by going after the Dirty Cop responsible for their murder -- and Léon is intent on keeping Mathilda safe at all costs.

This film is not to be confused with The Professionals (a British TV series) or Le Professionnel (another French film with Jean-Paul Belmondo as its star).

""This is from Mathilda." "Shit...""
 * Abusive Parents: Mathilda's parents fall under this trope, which is likely why she doesn't care when she finds out they're dead.
 * Adorkable: Léon
 * Affably Evil: Tony comes across as a nice guy and even throws children's birthday parties in his lair -- but he also orders several dozen people murdered over the short period of time in which the film takes place.
 * Given the sort of lowlifes that would require Léon's cleaning services in the first place, it's likely a case of Gray and Gray Morality.
 * Air Vent Passageway: This trope is subverted: Léon shoots and hacks out the hotel's ventilator fan so Mathilda can slide down to ground level, but there's not enough room for him.
 * Asshole Victim: Mathilda's parents and older sister fall under this trope.
 * Ax Crazy: While ostensibly the leader of the corrupt cops, Stansfield is so psychotic, his second-in-command has to take charge when he becomes too wrapped up in slaughter.
 * Badass: Léon
 * Badass and Child Duo
 * Bare Your Midriff: Mathilda likes to do this.
 * Black and Gray Morality: The protagonists are a hitman and a young girl interested in killing people, while the antagonist is a Complete Monster of a corrupt cop.
 * Bob Haircut: Mathilda
 * Bodyguard Crush: Mathilda has one of these for Léon.
 * Bunny Ears Lawyer: Stansfield is rather eccentric, to say the least: he discusses classical music during hits, is careless about where he points his gun, and frequently switches from absolute calm to screaming rage and back.
 * Camping a Crapper:
 * Career Killers: Léon is a subversion of the hitman archetype.
 * Cassandra Truth: This trope is inverted. The headmistress of the orphanage doesn't believe Mathilda's story about her parents being killed in a car crash, but does believe the story about living with a hitman and being chased by corrupt DEA agents.
 * Chekhov's Gun: The "Ring Trick" foreshadows the very end of the film. (The American theatrical cut doesn't feature the set-up, effectively averting the trope).
 * A played straight example is in the bathroom when Stan pulls his gun on Mathilda. It isn't until the with said gun that the trope is completed, coinciding with the "Ring Trick" as mentioned above, making this scene doubly explosive. (Other tropes climax here too, making it a powerful scene).
 * Chekhov's Skill: Léon's seen doing crunches/sit-ups in early scenes of the film, and he tries to teach Mathilda how to do them while training her.
 * Celibate Hero: Léon hasn't had a girlfriend since his first love was murdered.
 * Companion Cube: The plant is Léon's "best friend".
 * Cool Shades: Léon's trademark killing ensemble includes a pair of vintage 1990's round sunglasses.
 * Crapsack World: New York City in the 1990s is not a happy place.
 * The Danza: Reggae singer Willi One Blood plays one of Stansfield's goons; another character calls him "Willi", and Stansfield calls him "Blood".
 * Dangerously Genre Savvy: Stansfield knows the confrontation with Léon is going to be a difficult one; he tells the assault team to be careful while staying out of the shooting. Once the team is beaten -- as he expects -- he sends in backup in full force and is still prepared to counter the quiet exit Léon attempts.
 * Dawson Casting: Luc Besson averted this with Natalie Portman (who was eleven years old during filming); he resisted early attempts to cast older actresses despite knowing such a call would have made things easier for him.
 * Dead Little Brother: Mathilda doesn't give a damn about the rest of her family -- but the bastards who killed her little brother must die.
 * Dirty Cop: Stansfield and his crew work for the DEA.
 * Distracted by the Sexy: A uniformed policeman misses Mathilda entering a crime scene because he's flirting with a woman from the building.
 * Dressing as the Enemy:
 * Empty Elevator
 * Even Evil Has Standards:
 * One of Stanfield's men reacts with horror when Mathilda's brother ends up getting accidentally killed by Blood; he's heard shouting angrilly at Blood later in the scene. Killing the rest of the family apparently fell within his standards.
 * Léon refuses to take jobs which involve killing women or children.
 * Léon also refuses to take Mathilda on the job at the end as it is "too big" - he knows she won't stand a chance.
 * Evilly Affable: Stansfield cracks jokes and discusses classical music while murdering entire families.
 * Executive Veto: The American theatrical version of the film cut certain shocking or morally gray scenes of the film, including the most Lolicon-ish aspects of the Léon/Mathilda relationship and scenes of Mathilda accompanying Léon on his assassinations. These cuts change the film's characterizations drastically: in the edited version, Mathilda remains far more pure and, but in the unedited version, she's helped kill over a dozen people (which doesn't fit with her hesitation to kill Stansfield nor her apparent rehabilitation at the end). It totally fits the end. She is an amoral manipulator.
 * Fake Nationality:
 * Jean Reno, a French actor of Morrocan and Spanish blood, plays an Italian-American immigrant.
 * Gary Oldman, like so many other roles, plays a Fake American.
 * Famous Last Words
 * Gary Oldman, like so many other roles, plays a Fake American.
 * Famous Last Words

"Mathilda: "What's your name?" Léon: "Léon." Mathilda: "Cute name."
 * Faux Action Girl: Mathilda turns out to be this, but only because Stansfield stops her before she gets a chance to pull a weapon.
 * Fluffy the Terrible: Léon is this -- at least, according to Mathilda:
 * drinks*
 * Spit Take*"

"Mathilda: "Follow the blue car." Cab Driver: "I suppose you want me to blast the music and go through the red lights?" Mathilda: "No, I want you to drive slowly, take the hundred bucks and shut the fuck up, okay?""
 * Follow That Car!

"Léon: "Stay away from him, he looks like a weirdo."
 * Foot Popping: This trope is spoofed. When Léon rescues Mathilda from the police station, she throws herself into his arms, and the camera cuts to a shot of their feet -- Mathilda's are hanging a foot above the ground.
 * Friend or Foe: Stansfield's gang nearly shoot one another on several occasions during the massacre, and at least one SWAT trooper is killed this way.
 * Guns Akimbo
 * Gun Kata: A shotgun-toting Stansfield moves to the Ludwig Van in his head while massacring Mathilda's family.
 * Gun Porn
 * He Knows Too Much: The night after Léon takes Mathilda into his home, he's staring at the ceiling while she's asleep -- before he leaps up, attaches a silencer to his pistol, and places the gun against Mathilda's head. Despite knowing the burden she'll be on him, Léon can't pull the trigger -- and depending on the interpretation, this might have been an aborted Mercy Kill instead.
 * How Many All of Them
 * Hypocritical Humor:

"Léon: No women, no kids. That's the rules."
 * I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Stansfield is pretty careless about where he points his gun.
 * IKEA Weaponry: Léon's sniper rifle counts.
 * Instant Marksman, Just Squeeze Trigger: This trope is played straight.
 * Inverse Ninja Law: In the final act, Léon takes on a heavily-armed SWAT unit by himself -- and gets away.
 * Jumped At the Call: Mathilda shows particular zeal for avenging her innocent brother.
 * Jurisdiction Friction: The NYPD is not happy about the slaying of an entire family with no explanation (other than the DEA saying they were doing their job).
 * Knight Templar Big Sister: Mathilda
 * Large Ham: This is one of Gary Oldman's hammiest performances (and it stands in sharp contrast with Jean Reno's performance).
 * Laser Sight: Visible laser sights hunt for Leon and Mathilda in their apartment; they become visible due to the smoke and dust which has accumulated in the room.
 * Light Is Good: A terrified Mathilda is knocking on Léon's door, watched by a suspicious member of Stansfield's gang. Nothing happens, though we know Léon is on the other side of the door, debating whether to involve himself in the matter. As Stansfield's goon becomes more suspicious, light shines on Mathilda's face from the opening door and we see her look of relief.
 * Little Miss Badass: Mathilda single-handedly infiltrates a busy federal bureau with a bag full of weapons. She ends up being a Faux Action Girl, though, when she hesitates to kill Stansfield and gets herself captured.
 * Stansfield got the drop on her before she could pull her weapon. Plus: twelve-year-old.
 * Lolicon: This is an inverted trope. The twelve-year old Mathilda has a girlhood crush on the much older Léon, who repeatedly tells her it won't happen. A deleted scene shows Léon turning down Mathilda's offer of taking her virginity, though she insists they share the bed from then on (instead of Leon sleeping in the chair). Luc Besson cut the scene after preview audiences laughed nervously at it (thus killing the mood), but in the International Cut, the scene was restored.
 * Men Are the Expendable Gender

"Do you see him? Yes. He's right here. He's got a gun to my head."
 * More Dakka: After Léon wipes out their entry team, the SWAT team brings up a tripod-mounted, belt-fed machine gun -- then shoves a rifle grenade into the muzzle and blasts it through the door into Léon's apartment.
 * Noodle Incident: Léon's overseas affair somehow figures into his current role. This is explained in the International Cut as
 * No Peripheral Vision: Léon hides above the doorway as the SWAT team enters his apartment. To be fair, they are wearing gas masks, which restrict vision quite a bit.
 * Pineapple Surprise: This is how Léon
 * Oh Crap: "This is from Mathilda."
 * This also happens a few minutes earlier, during Léon's battle with the SWAT team:

"Willi: "What do you want me to tell them?" Stansfield: "Tell them...we were doing our jobs.""
 * Only a Flesh Wound: Léon gets shot in the shoulder by an assault rifle while hanging upside down. After dropping one of his guns and grimacing, he shoots the SWAT guy and manages to pull himself back up above the door.
 * Our Presidents Are Different: A not-so-subtle caricature of a jogging Clinton serves as Mathilda's sniper training.
 * Papa Wolf: Léon is one for Mathilda.
 * Pet the Dog: Léon -- still very much having the aura of a ruthless killer at this point -- and the piggy scene counts as this.
 * Pop Cultural Osmosis Failure: In an imitation game, Léon fails to recognize Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, and Charlie Chaplin, while Mathilda confuses John Wayne with Clint Eastwood.
 * Punch Clock Villain: Leon is a merciless assassin while on the clock. On his own time, he's almost childishly innocent.
 * The Reveal: Stansfield and his men appear to be just another drug gang; when they hear police sirens approaching after the massacre, Stansfield's Number Two calmly says they've got to go, but Stansfield tells one of his mooks to stay behind.

"Stansfield: I said take the guy out, not the whole fucking building!"
 * Russian Roulette: Mathilda does this to show she's ready to become a killer.
 * Self-Stitching: Léon fixes himself up in the shower after suffering an off-camera injury during a hit.
 * Senseless Violins: Léon is shown carrying an instrument case when moving house, though he never removes a weapon from it.
 * Shout-Out: Léon signs into a hotel registry under the name "Mr. MacGuffin".
 * To Wicked Cultured Alex in A Clockwork Orange.
 * Spiritual Successor: Colombiana
 * Spit Take: Of milk. Virtually a Running Gag.
 * Staged Shooting:
 * "This is from Mathilda".
 * Teach Me How to Fight: Mathilda trades reading lessons for training in the assassin's arts. The two different versions of the film differ on how much training she actually receives.
 * There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Stansfield sends two hundred SWAT officers with an RPG -- while regular cops establish a perimeter -- after one man and and a twelve-year-old girl in a cramped apartment building.

"Stansfield: Bring me everyone. Benny: What do you mean, "everyone" ? Stansfield: EVVV-REEE-OOOOONNNNEEE!"
 * Training Montage: Mathilda learns gun handling, milk drinking, and chin-ups. She is not happy about the last two.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Stansfield has a classic one near the end.


 * Also, when he takes some pills and starts enjoying himself...
 * Wicked Cultured: Stan is a psychotic classical music fan.
 * You Fail Geography Forever: At the end of the film, Mathilda is at the Spenser School, which (according to the headmistress's telephone conversation) is supposed to be in Wildwood, New Jersey. In the final moments before the credits, the school is shown to overlook the Hudson River and Manhattan -- but Wildwood is an oceanfront community near the tip of Cape May, over 150 miles away from New York City. (These scenes were filmed at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken.)