The hitman and her - and him

A propos of nothing much (it seems), the Independent's Christopher Hooton has penned a piece celebrating Luc Besson's 1994 masterpiece Leon which perfectly encapsulates what makes it such a powerful and enduring (and influential) film. He's absolutely right to praise the performances of Jean Reno as the titular professional assassin and the 12-year-old Natalie Portman as the hitman's unlikely sidekick, but also to hail Gary Oldman's as truly "unforgettable". Oldman's corrupt cop is astonishing, "a brilliant film villain because his menace, malice and mania are entirely unexplained. He chews pills with convulsive ritual, conducts massacres as symphonies, and lurches between different accents for no apparent reason." A repeat viewing is long overdue round these parts...