The Professional

Ivan Ivanov4.0

I never understood how a man with a face like a melted frog could carry so much charm and manliness with him.

carrieandtracy

You get the impression M. Belmondo never once questioned a scripted line or a piece of direction, just smiled and said, “Yeah, sure.”Le Professionnel is not a tight film — not its story nor its tone. But it has its pleasures. The Ennio Morricone music is great (though it’s a retread from an earlier film). The car chase is mighty good. But it all sits squarely on M. Belmondo’s very relaxed shoulders.(Physical media note: The Kino Lorber blu-ray is the only game in town, and this disc is fine, though nothing to write home about.)

Sam3.5

By no means a tight, intelligent action flick, but what you do get is a very fun cat-and-mouse film boosted by a charming Belmondo performance and a very addictive Morricone score. There's a great, simple revenge setup here with Belmondo's character, Beaumont, who, after attempting to assassinate a target, is betrayed by his own government and must therefore get his revenge. It's very simple but driven by a great desire for revenge and a good mix of some brilliantly tense action set pieces and more dry humor spread throughout. For a complete blind buy, it was exactly the type of crime film I needed, and it works due to Belmondo's charm and very effective pacing, which mixed a lot of familiar crime elements but with a unique dry wit. Very much worth a watch for any Belmondo fans, just for his awesome screen persona.