gavin6942
Victim of a plot which has resulted in his imprisonment in a Central African jail for two years, a French secret agent arrives in Paris to settle accounts.As others have noted, this is a film that gets better as it goes. Initially, the Central African scenes are not very compelling, but once the "professional" gets going, it heats up quickly. This is an action film, a political thriller (to some degree) and even has a touch of humor at various moments.Although to Americans saying "The Professional" invokes thoughts of "Leon", this was the true progenitor of the name. And with no less a musical backing than from Ennio Morricone, quite possibly the greatest composer of the 20th century.
omullarn
I do not understand the high rating and glowing reviews that this film has received. The plot points are weak; the acting is appalling, with each actor - except Belmondo, earning his rent money in a bored performance - chewing the scenery every chance they get. If it weren't for Belmondo, and the fondness so many of us have for him, I doubt this movie would score more than 3 out of 10.Watch Le Samourai; watch Rififi, or Le Circle Rouge, or Bob Le Flambeur, or any number of really good French crime movies, with classic actors and you'll see why I gave this 2 out of 10, and even that is generous.
dusan-22
This is the best film on the specific topic of mercenary vigilante model of a film hero highly exploited by Hollywood even today. Everything else is a bad copy of it. I read comment of one user who compares the structural basis of the film with Count Monte Kristo idea which is interesting, but unlike the Count Le Professionnel is the milestone for the bad guys (assassins) that are becoming good during the movie getting all our sympathies, unlike any movie before that. We, the observers, are suffering with their pain and sharing it even though they had been murders in many color pictures just few film minutes ago. Excellent casting and one of the best Belmondo's roles. Morricone music makes one perfect whole, making this film being your favorite, if you are hesitating about that.
kurciasbezdalas
He's tough, he's smart, he's funny, he's a French version of James Bond. Just don't get me wrong, this is not some sort of cheep imitation of James Bond. I think at that time this movie was kinda original and the plot-line is not similar with James Bond movies, only Jean-Paul Belmondo's character is similar with James Bond. Nowadays the plot may not appear so original, because a lot of similar movies were made after that (Born trilogy would be a good example), but still it's interesting too watch. The action was good. There were few great fighting scenes and one pretty impressive car chase scene. What else did I liked was the methods of police (who were the main villains) and how coldblooded and sadistic they were. I liked the standoff between Josselin Beaumont and Rosen made in western style, that was a very cleverly made in my opinion.
AD
