For those of you not familiar with him, Jean Reno is the guy in the picture above (with Natalie Portman). The scene is from the movie "The Professional" (also called "Léon").
The reason I am naming him my "Person of the day" is because I watched the remake of "The Pink Panther" recently. It was a funny movie, but Reno was miscast horribly as Steve Martin's sidekick.
Reno is the actor Hollywood calls when they want a Frenchman. Which is ironic, since he was actually born in Morocco to Spanish parents. His real name: Don Juan Moreno y Jederique Jimenez.*
To appreciate Reno as an actor, I would recommend the following movies:
1. "The Professional" (aka "Léon"): This is a funny, sweet, and sad film of a Mafia hitman (Reno) who saves a young girl (Natalie Portman) from a crooked DEA agent (Gary Oldman). Reno really shows his acting skills in this one, playing an uneducated, yet highly skilled assassin.
2. "Ronin": So he ends up playing second fiddle to Robert De Niro. Unlike "The Pink Panther", Reno is more than up to the challenge in "Ronin". If you like action films, you will enjoy this one.
3. "Godzilla": I know a lot of people don't like this movie. Personally, I thought it was a lot of fun. In this one, Reno plays a French spy (what else?). The thing to watch for is Reno's Elvis impersonation. Priceless.
*Hat tip to IMDB.com for the biographical information.
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