Sightlines · a viewing thread

The Silent Professional

A run of lethal loners who move through the world with monkish economy — watch them back to back for pure, terse competence under pressure and men who just want to disappear.

Crowd favorites and comfort-watch action that ask nothing more than a great popcorn night; the three Bournes reward being watched in order, with Léon as the quieter, stranger cousin.

• Léon: The Professional (1994)
• The Bourne Identity (2002)
• The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
• The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
• Ronin (1998) — The under-seen one to finally pull down if the Bournes landed — Frankenheimer's ice-cold crew of ex-intelligence pros running a car chase through Europe over a briefcase whose contents never matter, all terse competence and men who trust no one.
• Nikita (1990) — If Léon hooked you, this is the forgotten Besson original it grew from — the same lethal-loner-remade-as-state-weapon story, colder and stranger, about someone trained to kill who just wants out.