The Professional

It has been a most arduous week. Two midterms, homework, coupled with sleep depravation = life of a college student. Thankfully it's on hiatus for now....but it will be back in a month or so. In the meantime, I've got some updating to do! After the midterm on Thursday, my brain had finally put up the stop sign, and refused to be tempted into doing anything. Thus, I decided to watch a movie. Having a wide selection to choose from, I settled on Leon (The Professional) which starred Jean Reno, Gary Oldman (who plays Sirius Black in Harry Potter), and Natalie Portman. For those who don't know, I'm a big fan of Natalie Portman. I've seen her in Where The Heart Is, Anywhere But Here, Garden State, V for Vendetta, and Closer (although I kind of skipped out on the movie right where Natalie started to dance). The Professional was the first film she ever starred in, at the tender age of 11. She plays the female protagonist whose family gets killed by a corrupt policeman (Gary Oldman). Her neighbor (Jean Reno) is a hitman, and young Natalie falls in love with him. She becomes a novice hitman herself, under the tutelage of Jean Reno. At 11 years old, Portman plays a sexually provocative girl who has nothing to lose. I was very impressed by her performance. To portray a character that is very unlike herself is an astonishing achievement. What was also very impressionable was the fact that her crying scenes were very believable, which I think is a sign of a good actress. For those of you who haven't seen it, I provide this sneak preview. I think its a good enough movie to watch even if you're not a fan of Natalie Portman.