12 Surprisingly Touching Moments In Extremely Macho Movies

11. Leon €“ Nurturing The Plant

Leon is an unconventional movie in a number of ways, perhaps most obviously in the awkward relationship between Leon and Natalie Portman's 12-year-old orphan, Mathilda. But the titular character himself is also a wonderful curio. The ending, in which Leon sacrifices himself to get revenge for Mathilda, is a real tear-jerker for sure, but the movie also contains numerous little moments that give a lump in the throat rather than tug on the heartstrings, which is the artfulness f the film. The finest example of this comes from Leon's almost obsessive nurturing of his pet plant; here is a man who will kill a human being without batting an eyelid and yet he cares for his plant in a fashion resembling a parent caring for their child. There is a beautiful moment between Leon and Mathilda as she sees him caring for his plant. She can see how much it means to him and points this out; his reply of "It's my best friend. Always happy. No questions." really hammers home the isolation of Leon's chosen existence but is also oddly touching as you can see the joy he gets from caring for the plant, and how much it actually means to him.