Le Professionnel

Le Professionnel (1981)

Runtime: 104 minutes

Directed by: Georges Lautner

Starring: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Beaune, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Robert Hossein, Elisabeth Margoni

From: Several French companies

Joss Beaumont, espionage and ass-kicking!

Earlier in the year I picked up this film on DVD when I saw a used copy at a niche store; the rib was on me as last week it was announced that Kino Lorber was putting this and The Outsider (another Belmondo joint) on Blu in a few months time. No matter, as the DVD was fine and this movie is very good. Early last year I saw his 1975 film Fear Over the City, which at the time was easy to find online with multiple different copies... not anymore. Hopefully someone puts it out on Blu as the movie was a blast and Belmondo always did his own stunts... and some of them in that film were crazy.

This movie did not have much in the way of stunts or even action, yet was still greatly entertaining to me as a spy thriller. Belmondo played Beaumont, a great secret agent who is asked to assassinate an African dictator at the behest of his government. However, politics changed and Joss is jailed. He escapes, and gets revenge in a creative way by doing some unorthodox things. Those wary of a white guy raising hell in Africa... note that the movie is instead realistic and not only is it a dictator oppressing everyone else in the country, but democratic governments are interfering in those affairs when they shouldn't be. That wasn't offensive to me... there being a minor character who was a “predatory lesbian” stereotype... that's a different story.


The Professional (which has nothing to do with the Luc Besson picture) is slower paced than you'd probably expect and like I said it is not full of action or big stunts, although there are some of those beats. A good amount of this film is Belmondo's him, and Joss Beaumont being a badass who does awesome things while outwitting his enemies at every turn; besides engaging in some ass-kicking, he also romances both his wife and his mistress. There is a car chase (put together by Remy Julienne), a nice Morricone score and an incredibly French scene involving coffee, a slapfight and a croissant. It is further proof to me of why Belmondo was a big star in Europe way back when.