It’s very understandable if a person doesn’t know much about Jean Reno other than the fact that he can play a very despicable bad guy and a quiet but very efficient hero. In many of his movies he’s been the type of character you either love or hate since it’s just a little too easy to swing wide of the dividing line and make up your mind. The actor simply makes it that way since despite the fact that he has little emotion that shows on his face at times, the characters he plays and the actions he takes tend to make it known just what part he’s playing and why a person should care. In fact it would be fair to say that he’s one of the least emotional actors but also one of the most effective since he does so much with so little. When he does show emotion it almost seems as though he’s trying a bit too hard, or that his character was written up as being less effective than he usually is. When all is said and done though he’s easily one of the best actors who can do so much without cracking more than a smile every now and then.
Here are five of his best movies.
5. Rollerball
It’s likely a lot of people haven’t even heard of this movie since it was there and gone within a very short time, but if you take the brutality of the NFL and a roller derby and make it co-ed this is about what you’d get it seems. The contestants are paid to be brutal and to win, and it’s definitely a sport where aggression is the key element that helps a person to survive. But when the man that runs the show realizes that he can up the viewership by allowing a little more blood to spill on the lanes it becomes evident that the players aren’t nearly as important as the money they bring in, and that they’re more than a little expendable.
4. Armored
The natural inclination for a lot of people is to steer clear of armored guards since they’re not kidding around most times when they’re moving mass sums of money from one spot to another. The armored trucks are after all like rolling fortresses that are designed to stop even the most ambitious thieves from gaining access to what’s inside. But when the guards who know how to get around the system are the ones trying to rob the truck it becomes a little more difficult to stop them since they know the tricks and they know just how to get around them. Of course, when one of them has a conscience and decides to turn on his buddies it becomes a giant mess that can no longer be covered up.
3. Mission: Impossible
This movie kicked off what’s been an impressive run thus far and was something unique and special when it first came out. It’s amusing to think that a lot of the gadgets being used in the movie would now be considered outdated and possibly low-tech compared to some of the devices that have come around in later movies. But back then this was one of the best examples of where fiction and the spy game conspired to entertain people in one of the best ways. Jean of course just had to play a villain that was initially seen to be working with Hunt but turned on him rather quickly when it was necessary.
2. Ronin
This movie didn’t get all that much attention but it was a lot better than some folks might seem to think. It’s true that it took a while to really get rolling, but the overall nature of the movie was one that left you wondering just what the group of mercenaries had been after and why it was so important. The efforts made to get the case and everything that happened in relation to it became far more important than the case itself at some point, and while the team was eventually reduced to just two men you can’t help but think that it was more of an effort to pare it down to the best among them, those that knew how to survive and how to handle themselves so that they might see another day.
1. Leon: The Professional
Leon never missed his target, he never failed to complete a hit, and he never had any other reason to care about anything or anyone else until he met Matilda. For some reason she touched his killer’s heart in a way that no one else could and changed him in ways that he might never have known if not for taking a risk and accepting her into his life. Of course this sparked a rather nasty fight between Leon and the law enforcement officers that killed Matilda’s family, a fight that ended with Leon and the head officer finally meeting their end, while Matilda was free to live a better life.
Ah yes, he is that great, so it might be time to watch one or two of his movies to see why.
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