The serpentine plotline of Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita begins its 117-
minute slither when punkish Nikita (Anne Parillaud) kills a cop and is
sentenced to death. On the brink of execution, she is "saved" by French
intelligence officer Bob (Tcheky Karyo). With the government's blessing, Bob
lovingly coaches Nikita in the proper social graces--and also tutors her in
the subtle art of political assassination. The paradoxical concept of a young
woman blossoming socially while carrying out cold-blooded murders was
downplayed when La Femme Nikita was remade in America as Point of No
Return, with Bridget Fonda in the lead. A far less sociopathic TV-series
version of La Femme Nikita surfaced on the USA Cable Network in early 1997