Le Lion ("The Lion") is a 2020 French action-comedy film directed by Ludovic Colbeau-Justin and starring Dany Boon and Philippe Katerine.
Romain Martin (Katerine), a psychiatrist, listens to the stories of Léo Milan, a detainee of a mental hospital who pretends to be a spy. One day, while he is looking by the window of his cell, Léo Milan notices that the van of a florist seems to follow Romain's girlfriend Louise. He warns Romain that it is probably not a real florist's van and that Louise will probably be kidnapped. In the evening, Louise is actually kidnapped, so Romain decides to release Milan so that he can help him to find Louise.
Le Lion provides examples of:
- Animal Theme Naming: Léo Milan's code name is "Le Lion" ("The Lion"), which is also the French name of the constellation Leo. When he gives Romain Martin a code name, he chooses "Lionceau" ("Lion Cub").
- Back-to-Back Badasses: In the prologue, Léo Milan and Anna make this move when they are fighting a gang in a bar.
- Babies Make Everything Better: Over the course of the film, Romain realizes that his girlfriend has lied to him about her true identity. When he meets her again in the end, she tells him that she is pregnant and this reinforces their mutual love.
- Beard of Sorrow: While he is beardless and short-haired in the prologue, Léo Milan has long hair and a beard when he is detained in the mental hospital (where he actually grieves the death of his girlfriend). As soon as he escapes from the hospital, he gets a haircut.
- Bittersweet Ending: Louise is released and the bad guys are arrested, but the Dark and Troubled Past of Léo Milan is revealed: he witnessed the murder of his girlfriend.
- Buddy Picture: The two main characters, Romain Martin and Léo Milan, team up to find Louise and become friends over the course of the film.
- Buxom Beauty Standard: When Léo Milan sees a photograph of Louise, he immediately notices her big breasts. Afterwards, he regularly makes comments about her breasts. Since this makes Romain uncomfortable, he then talks about her big eyes.
- Contrived Coincidence: Romain Martin treats a patient who pretends to be a spy. Louise, Martin's girlfriend, happens to be a retired hacker legend living under a fake identity.
- Damsel in Distress: Romain's girlfriend Louise is kidnapped. Romain Martin and Léo Milan team up to find her.
- Dark and Troubled Past: In the end, it is revealed that Léo Milan witnessed the murder of his girlfriend.
- Doesn't Like Guns: Léo Milan insists that his hands are deadly weapons and that he does not need guns. After neutralizing two mooks in the bank, Romain Martin suggests taking their guns, but Milan refuses.
- Fake Action Prologue: The prologue shows Léo Milan and his girlfriend being cornered by a gang in a bar in Dubai. They try to escape and eliminate many Mooks in the process. Then it is revealed to be a story told by Léo to his psychiatrist Romain in a mental hospital.
- Go Among Mad People: Léo Milan is locked up in a mental hospital. He pretends to be a spy who is stuck there because he was in the way of powerful people. His psychiatrist eventually buys his story. Subverted in the end, when it is revealed that Léo Milan is actually a madman.
- Hero Stole My Bike: As soon as he is released, Léo Milan steals a car. A bit later, Romain Martin steals a bike. Eventually, Léo and Romain steal a helicopter to go to Paris.
- Informed Attribute: When Léo Milan sees a photograph of Louise, he immediately notices her big breasts. Afterwards, he regularly makes comments about her breasts. However, Anne Serra, the actress who impersonates Louise, does not have particularly big breasts.
- The Lost Lenore: Léo Milan frequently talks about his girlfriend Anna who disappeared before the start of the story. The end reveals that she was murdered.
- Multiple Identity IDs: Léo Milan finds several passports belonging to Louise in the record store where she worked, which proves that she used a fake identity.
- Odd Couple: The two main characters, Romain Martin and Léo Milan, are very different: Romain is a slovenly, home-loving psychiatrist, while Léo pretends to be a classy international spy.
- Once More, with Clarity: In the end, the true nature of the prologue is revealed in a Flashback which shows what really happened. The version shown in the prologue is actually a fantasized version of a tragic experience of Léo Milan: the death of his girlfriend.
- Red Baron: Léo Milan pretends that he is an international spy and that his code name is "The Lion".
- Retired Outlaw: Louise was a hacker legend, but she decided to retire. Now she lives under a fake identity and works as a record dealer.
- The Reveal: Near the end, it is revealed that Léo Milan is not a spy, but an ordinary man who went crazy when his girlfriend was murdered.
- Room Full of Crazy: Léo Milan wrote many things on the walls of his cell. He also drew a zodiac wheel.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Romain Martin is a sensitive guy who composes naive songs for his girlfriend, while Léo Milan pretends to be a badass spy.
- Shout-Out:
- One of the protagonists is named Léo Milan. The surname Milan was used in several action comedy films written by Francis Veber, like The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe and L'Emmerdeur.
- In the mental hospital, Léo Milan is nicknamed "Daniel Craig."
- After being released, Léo Milan demands to go to a luxury shop to buy clothes, because he cannot work if he is dressed in the style of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
- Soft Water: Léo Milan pretends that he jumped from the Burj Khalifa and survived because he fell into the swimming pool of a sheikh. Justified because this is just the delirium of a madman.
- Stellar Name: Léo Milan pretends that he works for a secret organization named "Constellation", which is run by a guy named "Zodiac". The code names of the agents are the names of the signs of the zodiac (his own code name is "Le Lion", i.e. Leo).
- Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Romain Martin (Philippe Katerine) and Louise (Anne Serra). When Léo Milan sees a photograph of Louise, he cannot believe that she is his girlfriend.
- Universal Driver's License: Léo Milan pretends that he knows how to drive all vehicles. Subverted: when he has to fly a helicopter, it turns out that he is a terribly awkward pilot.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Subverted. In the bar in Dubai, Léo Milan fights several male mooks. Then, the only female member of the gang attacks him. Léo moves back and shouts no, but, when the female character hits him, he hits her in return.
