Tall Frenchman Jean Reno excels with minimalist mimicry, impressive physicality and a tenderness in the title role of Luc Besson's powerfully, excitingly and suspensefully directed crime thriller drama about a lonesome hitman in New York, who accidentally gets homeless girl Natalie Portman, whose family was wiped out by corrupt detective Gary Oldman, and befriends himself with her, set for a tragedy. Despite the film's unbelievable central premise, Besson works at the top of his filmmaking skills here, especially in the gloriously, excellently choreographed action scenes, which mark the high points of the film along with the terrific cast. Portman is outstanding in her debut, although her role is badly written, she comes off very well, while Oldman plays the wickedly funny nutcase bad guy with gusto, and with Danny Aiello perfectly cast as Léon's only friend, boss and teacher. The music by Eric Serra and Sting is superb.
Reviews
7 Reviews
Lightning Jack
(1994)
** from *****
29 June 2000
Lukewarm attempt to revitalize the Comedy Western in the great tradition of BLAZING SADDLES (1973) with Paul Hogan playing the Paul-Hogan-role in a CROCODILE DUNDEE-like charmer with action, gags and romance, but sadly this time it needs a lot more to make a good movie than outback charm. Hogan is funny as usual in the title role of gun-waving, but short-sighted bank thief Lightning Jack, who takes mute, but smart Cuba Gooding, Jr. as his assistant and tries to escape the law (Pat Hingle & Co.) while flirting with Beverly D'Angelo. The mediocre script doesn't work, some gags work, others don't, the direction by Simon Wincer is boring, but Hogan's charisma holds it together for most of the time, although Gooding, Jr. does some good scene-stealing.
My Girl
(1991)
**** from *****
29 June 2000
Innocent, sweet, very likeable, well-cast, family-friendly coming-of-age tale about 11-year-old Anna Chlumsky's encounters of love, puberty, friendship and death during one long summer in the US-60s, where she falls in love with her teacher Griffin Dunne, hangs around with her friend Macaulay Culkin, tries to handle the fact, that her father Dan Aykroyd is a mortician and flirts with his new assistant Jamie Lee Curtis, and with her uncle Richard Masur and her strange grandma Ann Nelson. In compensating the schmaltzy, heart-breaking moments with funny, lightweight comedy scenes and being as credible as possible, director Howard Zieff's pleasant direction relies heavily on the excellent cast of sympathetic performers with newcomer Chlumsky particular standout in the strong lead role, Culkin in probably his career best as a glasses-wearing wimp and some hilarious moments with weird grandma Nelson, and satisfyingly results in surprisingly even, charming, predictable, but universally watchable entertainment.
The Mission
(1986)
**** from *****
29 June 2000
Breathtakingly beautiful, stunningly shot, narratively muddled, long, difficult and with a downbeat ending, but nonetheless powerful and superbly produced religious drama starring Jeremy Irons as a ambitious priest trying to establish Jesuit mission in the jungles of Brazil around 1750, accompanied by former slave-dealer Robert De Niro, who joins him after killing his brother Aidan Quinn for the love of a woman, and young priest Liam Neeson. But aside from cultural, linguistic and climatic problems, they have to face ruthless politics within and outside of the church undervaluing its importance. The cast delivers respectable performances and the script by Robert Bolt is thoughtful in examining diverse issues of belief, cultural differences, violence etc., but they are almost lost in brilliant scenery and Oscar-winning visuals from Chris Menges. Still, many magical, human moments to behold and a sense of ambitious, but flawed art.
Renaissance Man
(1994)
** from *****
28 June 2000
An uneasy, but very likeable mix of DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989) and AN OFFICER AND GENTLEMAN (1982) from usually assured director Penny Marshall has fine-as-usual Danny De Vito playing a business man who gets fired and has to work on a U.S. military camp teaching some not-so-bright cadets about, well, Shakespeare. Aside from being the most respectful, positive, naive portrayal of the U.S. Army in decades, this predictable, formulaic comedy mixes drama and humor unwisely, despite some appealing performances by the young actors, especially from Lillo Brancato, Jr., who played Robert De Niro's son in A BRONX TALE (1993) and spoofs him here, much-talking Kadeem Hardison and Richard T. Jones as the strongest. Also with sexy Stacey Dash, stupid bloke Mark Wahlberg, James Remar as captain and Gregory Hines as a light variation of Louis Gossett, Jr., from AN OFFICER... In the end, neither boring, nor successful movie with a healthy enthusiasm for Shakespeare's works.
Maverick
(1994)
*** from *****
28 June 2000
Critically slated, and wrongly so, this is an underrated gem, a slick, funny, star-studded, cool and well-produced comedy western with a long, episodic and not-so-bright script, but great, shallow fun from the magic blockbuster teaming of star Mel Gibson and director Richard Donner. Based on the TV Series from the 1960s starring James Garner, the thin story deals with charming cardsharp Maverick's adventurous journey to a tournament of the very best card-players, on which he's accompanied by Marshall Garner and pick pocket Jodie Foster, he meets with old friends like Graham Greene and makes new enemies such as Alfred Molina. Sporadically funny, slow-moving and pointless as it is, the charm of enjoyable Gibson, pretty, ravishingly funny Foster in a change-of-pace-role, a solid supporting cast full of hilarious cameos (Danny Glover) and old Western regulars and expensive-looking, pretty art direction and Oscar-nominated costumes make this good, clean fun.
The Lady from Shanghai
(1947)
**** from *****
28 June 2000
After directing his self-proclaimed "worst" film with THE STRANGER, a solid crime drama with a conventional, straight-forward narrative, Orson Welles returned to high-profile, bold, visually stunning, complex and difficult film-making with his superbly crafted, thoughtful adaptation of the novel by Raymond S. King about tough Irish sailor Welles falling for sexy Rita Hayworth while working on the ship of her husband, rich lawyer Everett Sloane, and being forced by Sloane's partner Glenn Anders to take part in a small crime, which turns ugly. The stellar cast with Sloane a special standout as embittered man, whose wealthy surface is poisoned by his love for blonde femme fatale Hayworth, who without her red hair looks emotionally cool and appears clinically gorgeous, while Welles is rather ordinary in the lead. While the screenplay looses impact towards end and there's nothing special about the crime plot, the atmosphere Welles creates with unusual camera angles, excellent editing and exotic places is terrific. Not one of Welles' best, but certainly one of his most interesting films with the legendary climax in the hall of mirrors making a brilliant end to a rather muddled film noir.
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