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January 16, 2004
Norman Stansfield
Detective Norman Stansfield (Gary Oldman) has a number of problems. A drug problem, psychological problems, problems with Beethoven... At the beginning of The Professional, his problem is with one of the lowlifes he's been paying to store drugs on the down low. That problem becomes a fatal one for the drug courier's whole family, which is murdered by Stansfield and his goons in a violent, dizzying barrage of ammunition. The sole survivor is 12-year old Mathilda (Natalie Portman) who slips by the NYPD and into the reluctant but protective arms of the local neighborhood hitman, Léon (Jean Reno), living right down the hall.
As the hitman and the little girl strike up an unlikely friendship, Stansfield continues to strike fear into the neighborhood thugs and his own guys, popping pills with his spine-shattering spasms and showing a serious lack of control of his temper. The death of that family? Doesn't bother him. What does bother him is the revelation that somebody slipped through his fingers, and when he discovers the existence of young Mathilda, he does everything he can to find her and kill her.
Mathilda, however, has her own ideas about finding and killing people, namely the goons who murdered her little brother. At a price of five grand a head, Léon's normal asking price is steep, but he sympathises with his young friend and takes on the mission. One by one, Léon takes out the team of cops and Stansfield roughs up Léon's local boss for information. Stansfield corners Léon and Mathilda at Léon's apartment. In a stunning show of excess for the apprehension of just one guy by an obsessed, eccentric maniac, Stansfield summons the entire NYPD force: "Bring everyone." "You want everyone--?" "EV-ERY-ONE!!!!"
Soon enough, everyone does come and Léon nearly slips by, but Stansfield shoots him in the back. The ruthless and careless Stansfield takes enjoyment in erasing the last shred of evidence against his wrongdoings and smiles in the face of Léon's death only to learn too late that the dozen grenades strapped to Léon's chest mean the end of Stansfield's life too. In a glorious explosion, Léon saves Mathilda and finishes the job he promised to complete by killing Stansfield. While Mathilda can now find a place to grow and plant her roots, Stansfield will forever be responsible for stealing away the only true father she ever had.
INTELLIGENCE - 7: Stansfield is smart and has connections.
POWER - 5: He lets his boys take out the trash, but he can certainly fend for himself.
VILENESS - 10: He'll shoot kids! He'll shoot at old ladies in hotel hallways! He has no morals whatsoever!
SWAY - 9: Stansfield is so eccentric and ill-tempered that it's impossible to know when he'll snap next.
PURITY - 9: This guy is so over the top that he sometimes loses focus and lets important things slip by... but not often.
PHYSICAL - 4: He's a little ragged from the pill-popping, but perfectly at ease in his plain clothes detective-wear.
TOTAL: 44
Posted by Destro at January 16, 2004 04:54 PM