The Professional (1981)

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

I can give this film 10 stars just on the sound track alone! or me this is the best work of Bel Mondo. The story its just perfect, Joss (main character) uses the orders that the service gave to him to kill president N'Jala even after he became friend to to his government. They betrayed him and left him to die in prison. The character of commissionaire Rosen it's a perfect one. I have seen this movie maybe 20 times and every time I find something new. The speech in the end between the minister and captain Valeras it's my preferred moment: Is this call under surveillance? Of course Mr. Minister. The duel between Rosen and Joss in the best picture of Paris I have ever seen is also great. But the truth is every moment and every word is perfect. You don't have to miss this movie.

The plot is pretty typical by now. A spy is betrayed by his country and now seeks revenge. We've all seen this stuff before. However, the way this movie is executed is fantastic. This has pretty much everything a spy flick needs. It's got a great lead actor, hot French women, political intrigue, and a car chase scene. It also has a great soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. Fans of Belmondo should be pleased. I've never seen his other movies but he's definitely an entertaining actor. Oddly enough, he does physical comedy really well. Action movie fans should also be pleased. Watching Belmondo beat people up never gets old. I wouldn't be surprised if The Bourne Identity took some ideas from this movie.

You can certainly watch this film for the music of Ennio Morricone and be thoroughly entertained.You can also enjoy the acting of Jean-Paul Belmondo (Pierrot le fou, The Forgiven Sinner) and you will not be disappointed.The direction of Georges Lautner was superb.There is enough action in this film to satisfy anyone: fights, car chases, shootouts, and great naturals on display. It combines the original Day of the Jackal, and The Bourne Identity.Sure, it doesn't have all the special effects of modern spy flicks, and you have to actually pay attention to the dialog to enjoy it, but it is a classic example of great acting.

Josselin Beaumont (Jean-Paul Belmondo), agent for the Special Action Service, a shadowy French government agency, is sent to the African country of Malagasi to kill Colonel Njala, its president-for-life. Political considerations suddenly change and the assassination is called off. Instead of recalling Beaumont, his masters decide to betray him to secure a good relationship with the president-for-life. And the president-for-life intends to show his compassion for a beaten man by only giving Joss a life sentence. First, of course, Joss must be turned into a beaten man, through brutality, torture and hard time. After two years, plenty of time to figure out he was betrayed, Joss breaks out and returns to France. And there he informs his former masters that he's going to complete the assignment while Njala is in France on a state visit. Try and stop me, is his message. A warning: This is one of those movies where the creators think that what is basically a thriller can be turned into "serious contemporary drama" by having a meaningful and ironic ending. That corny and self-important assumption has made so many movies -- American, French and whatever -- seem as dated and unsatisfying as The Parallax View. The movie really starts when Joss gets back to Paris. The high-level bureaucrats are scurrying about, more frightened for their careers if Joss succeeds than they are for Malagasi's president-for-life's life. They know Joss has been trained by the best...he's quick, resourceful, humorous, tough and clever. (After all, he's Jean-Paul Belmondo). So just who is going to stop him, asks the minister at a meeting of senior executives of the Special Action Service? There's a long pause. Men look nervously at each other. Then..."I will," speaks up Commissioner Rosen (Robert Hossein) of the government's Intervention Bureau. Rosen is as tough and smart as Joss, and much more ruthless. Wait a minute. Is this a thriller with some humor or a cartoon with some thrills? It turns out Le Professional is both, with a bit of how-awful-governments-can-be moralizing thrown in. Part of the time the movie is engrossing with a clever plot; part of the time I couldn't help snickering over how over-played some of the characters were. The dialogue moves between the two. Enrico Morricone's obvious score doesn't help. With Le Professional, however, the ride with Belmondo in the driver's seat is almost worth it. Belmondo, 48 when the movie was made, is one of those actors who look their increasing years and benefit from them. Even at his youngest he was no pretty boy, not with that long face, underslung jaw, thick lips and deep lines bracketing his mouth. If he is sometimes called (by Americans) the French Bogart, it would be equally true to call Bogart the American Belmondo.