Lethal Weapon Mel Gibson Funny Riggs Face

"Ok, ok..."

―Leo Getz

Leo Getz is the tritagonist (third lead) of the series. He was introduced in the second film as a federal witness that Team Riggs/Murtaugh once had to protect from the South African Diplomats led by Arjen Rudd. He soon becomes their best friend, self-appointed sidekick and a member of their surrogate/extended family. His occupation varies by film (i.e. from a banker in Lethal Weapon 2, to a Real Estate agent in Lethal Weapon 3, to a Private Investigator in Lethal Weapon 4).

Lethal Weapon 2 [ ]

Meeting the Detectives [ ]

Leo Getz first meets Policemen Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh at a hotel during a case where South African Diplomats are smuggling krugerrands into the United States. The duo are assigned to protect Leo from the diplomats as well as question him the details regarding their plans. They already show a disliking to his quirky personality and sense of humor, telling him to shut up and slapping his hands away from touching their guns. Leo even kids around with them mentioning everything in his room can be theirs and he can take the small room because he is shorter than both cops. He also tells them he laundered funds in half a billion dollars for smugglers and drug dealers in the past. "Room service" arrives in Leo's hotel room and he complains when Riggs and Murtaugh take some french fries, with Leo wanting it first. When the waiter approaches Leo, he pulls out a gun and was just about to shoot him, but Leo pointed it up. Riggs charges at the gunman but pushes the cart and he, the gunman, and Leo fall 7 stories into a pool. Leo is momentarily mistaken for the gunman, who managed to getaway, as Riggs delivered a few punches to his face, breaking his nose.

One word after another [ ]

Leo Getz after sustaining hits from Riggs by accident

After being helped out of the pool, Leo, with his nose plugged with cotton balls to prevent it from bleeding any further, he is taken to Murtaugh's home where he tells the duo how the process of his banking functioned with the diplomats. As he explains how they were able to get the money, he takes Riggs' wet shirt out of the wash and dryer and hands it to him, only for Riggs to realize it shrunk during the drying. When it's time to go, Leo asks if he can have a gun, to which the detectives say no together, then Riggs pulls Leo's broken nose out of fun.

Later, near the Hollywood Sign, Leo uses a calculator to figure out the address of his client's home. Riggs and Murtaugh figure out where the diplomats are located, and thanks to Leo's math, they locate the house in no time. Leo waits in the car while Riggs and Murtaugh go inside and find the suspects.

Arjen Rudd's house and car chase [ ]

Leo is taken with Riggs and Murtaugh to Arjen Rudd's private home. Waiting in the car, the same henchman that tried to kill Leo earlier escapes Rudd's house and Riggs goes after him while Leo attempted following too. He enters Murtaugh's station wagon and a chase begins. During the chase, Leo goes to pick up Riggs' gun, which he accidentally dropped when the driver shook the truck to the side. Murtaugh takes the gun from him. As the chase comes to a close, Murtaugh pulls the car over as he and Leo watch a near collision occur with another vehicle, involving the death of the henchman by surfboard to his head.

Getting into Rudd's office for clues [ ]

Leo and Murtaugh talk to the South African immigrations employee at South African Consul Building in order to allow Riggs to find any clues, with Murtaugh pretending to "wanting to go to South Africa to fight against the minority regime", thus drawing more attention of the building's security to get Murtaugh and Leo out of the building, and while security is distracting; thus allowing Riggs more time to get into the office for clues. Once Riggs was out of the office with the clue he found from the notepad and saying bye to Rika Van Den Haas, Leo, Riggs and Murtaugh go to a deli for dinner, and gets out on the left side with a car coming by and ripping off the backseat car door.

Leo's capture and rescue [ ]

While determining some clues about piece of paper from the notepad that said "Alba Varden, Thursday," Leo and Murtaugh talked about his boat, and Murtaugh deducted about seeing a boat named "Alba Varden" in a video of his on his birthday, and he Leo got to his house for him to see the video about Alba Varden, while Leo waits in the car. While watching for the boat in the video, Leo is captured by Rudd's men, and two of them are left to deal with Murtaugh. Though Roger managed to kill them both, he suddenly remembered Leo was left in the car, and went out to see that his car was taken, and with Leo in it, which led him to believe that Leo was kidnapped.

Later on that evening, at the station, Murtaugh receives a call from Riggs about going after Rudd, Vorstedt, and the rest of their men in avenging the deaths of their fellow officers, Vicky and Rika. Meanwhile, Leo is being brutally beaten and antagonized by Vorstedt for taking their money and getting him to talk to them about it. Later, before they can get him to talk any further, Riggs is using his truck to rip off the legs of the stilthouse allowing enough for Murtaugh to get Leo out of there, with Vorstedt making the getaway, while the whole house is torn down.

Having rescued Leo, Murtaugh tells Leo to drive his car to the station and wait for the federal marshal, and hugs them both for saving his life (believing this to be the last time he'll ever see them) before Riggs and Murtaugh proceed to shipyard with Rudd and Vorstedt getting away with their billions in drug money in their ship "Alba Varden."

Lethal Weapon 3 [ ]

Real Estate [ ]

Leo Getz returns in this film as a real estate agent. He has dyed his hair blonde and now sports an earring. Despite parting ways with Riggs and Murtaugh at the end of the previous film, the three men have remained in contact and are now best friends (even though they still think he's annoying, and enjoy picking on him). Two people visit the Murtaugh Home as Getz tries selling to them, possibly due to Roger Murtaugh retiring in less than a week and wanting to move to live a private life with his family. But once again, due to his constant blabbering, he shows them every part of the house (notably the living room, the now complete garage, and the bathroom, reminiscing the previous two films) and details them the events that have occurred in the house's lifetime. He brings them through into the kitchen, but when Riggs and Murtaugh get into another argument, they end up in a position that scares off the buyers (the duo had been spying on Leo the whole time), however, Leo reveals that the buyers actually wanted to buy the property, but couldn't afford it.

Murtaugh takes his frustration out on Leo, since Leo mentioned the toilet bomb incident. When Riggs reminds them of the time Murtaugh shot someone with a nail-gun in the house, Leo asks if the repairs after the toilet bomb were properly permitted. He says he'll arrange for some backdated permits so that the sale, when they find a buyer, won't hit a snag. Still frustrated, Murtaugh kicks Leo out of his house and he departs.

Trouble in the Forum [ ]

Leo visits Roger Murtaugh and Martin Riggs again, this time at the police station. He tells Murtaugh his house is infested with termites and tries to tell him he should consider buying a new house. While talking about a case, he sees a video image of suspect Jack Travis and instantly recognizes him. Leo then tells the duo he knows where they can find him. After asking for a gun again from the duo, they once again reject together.

At the Forum, Leo is in the stands searching for Travis while Riggs publicly announces in the arena that Travis surrender to the LAPD. After narrowly avoiding two beat cops, Leo spots Travis and shouts to Riggs and Murtaugh he found him. Leo chases after him and jumps from the railing on top of Travis' back. The two wrestle and tackle each other onto the ice, interrupting the game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Travis pulls out his gun and Leo grabs his arm, lying on the ice, but Travis shoots him in his forearm and injures him as he makes the getaway.

Leo cries and coughs as Murtaugh tries to help him, but Leo says he is dying, and quotes he is choking and feels cold and numb because he is dying. Murtaugh then tells him the wound on his forearm is just a flesh wound and he is cold because of the ice and that he is going to be alright. Riggs comes to help Leo up and Murtaugh helps too as the crowd in the Forum give a standing ovation knowing he is okay.

"Dumb Dumb" wound gimmick [ ]

At the hospital, while Leo is being examined by the doctor, Riggs and Murtaugh convince the doctor to keep Leo in the hospital for a few days for the sake of avoiding his chitchat personality. In order to fool Leo, the duo pretend that the wound Jack Travis gave him was a "dumb dumb wound" and he requires additional stay in the hospital in order to get better. Riggs and Murtaugh add in "proctology" to Leo's medical chart, thus dooming him to a needless rectal exam, and then they leave as Leo is about to be put to sleep for surgery.

Return to normal life and response to high speed chase [ ]

Leo with Riggs & Murtaugh as he gives them new information about locating Jack Travis

After coming out of the hospital, Leo is held back by Sergeant Wells because he did not have proper authority to be there but Murtaugh tells her he's with them. Leo begins to tell the duo and their new comrade Sergeant Lorna Cole about his stay at the hospital and that he got a lapotomy, something he feels is an act of disrespect.

Later, Leo drives his car to the spot where the motorcycle blew up upon impact. The duo are not happy to see him all the while being on the case of pursuing Travis, but failed to apprehend him. Leo explains he arrived to the highway chase scene with help from a police scanner. Then he tells them about Rancho Oroya (where Travis' construction company is located) and wants to join them there but Riggs and Murtaugh shoot two of the tires of his car, ticking him off as he complains to an officer about it.

Murtaugh keeps his house [ ]

With Murtaugh ultimately deciding to stay on the force, Leo arrives in the bathroom and speaks to Roger about his house being sold to new buyers. And just as he shows Roger his contract of letting go of the lease on the home and moving out, Roger tells Leo he and his family has decided to stay in the termite-infested home for another 10 years. But this upsets him as he says he's under contract and then changes the subject to the two flat tires both Murtaugh and Riggs gave him. Having had enough, Roger Murtaugh and Trish kick Leo out of the bathroom, but he gives them a warning not to come crying to him if the termites infest their home again before leaving.

Lethal Weapon 4 [ ]

Fishing with Riggs and Murtaugh [ ]

One night, almost nine months after an earlier case, in the open ocean, Leo Getz is with Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh fishing from Murtaugh's new boat. Just where Leo was about to shoot the shark he fished onto the boat, Riggs and Murtaugh stop him before he was able to do so, and Riggs questions him if he had a permit for the gun, to which he says he does due to being "a P.I.". But Riggs throws Leo's gun in the ocean for no apparent reason. Soon after, a cargo ship comes in from out of nowhere, in the event where Murtaugh's boat is damaged and sunk, and they swim to shore and investigate what appears to an illegal immigrant smuggling operation.

Smiling on camera [ ]

After the boat is impounded by the LAPD, Leo is interviewed on camera and tells them his side of the story of what happened.

Tailing the duo [ ]

On a bright sunny day, Leo attempts to tail Riggs and Murtaugh in his red GMC pickup truck. However, being a beginner P.I., was spotted by the duo, who pulled over to see what he wants. As Leo approached the car from the side, he illegally parks on the active side of the road getting a complaint from a driver in the process. Asking if they saw him tailing the duo, Leo becomes disgraced that they did and then questions who the "perp" in the backseat is. He reveals himself as Lee Butters, who becomes offended by his remark just because he has an assumption. During the argument, a motorcycle police officer pulls by telling Leo he is blocking the road. Riggs, Murtaugh, and Butters lie that they don't know him and that he has been drinking just so they can get away from him; the officer believes them and Leo is taken to the police station for examination.

Dentist Appointment [ ]

Leo was able to track Uncle Benny at a dental office, which allowed Riggs, Murtaugh, and Butters to use him as a distraction, while they interrogated Uncle Benny about where the Hongs were being held. They used laughing gas to extract the truth he was keeping from them. After getting the truth from Uncle Benny, Leo could no longer stall them, and they all left to find the Hongs.

Leo's backstory [ ]

Leo visits Martin Riggs and sees him at his late wife, Victoria's grave. Seeing how much he cares for his late wife, Leo warms him up by telling him a story of his time. His father was no bargain, and his mother left when he was young. Growing up, he had no friends. He had only a pet frog named Froggy that was his best friend in all the world, and used to kiss it and thought it would turn into a princess and be the mother to him he never had after his mother left. One day, while riding his bike, Froggy jumped out of the basket, and Leo accidentally ran over him with the back tire and killed him, which left him really heartbroken ever since. He went through a life without friends for a long time, until the very day he met and befriended Riggs and Murtaugh. He tells Riggs that they're like family to him because they looked after him and took care of him far more than they had to. Riggs admits to Leo that he's terrible to him, but Leo tells him it's okay. He explains to him that he and Roger aren't better friends than Froggy was to him, but just different.

Maternity Ward and Family photo [ ]

After Leo and Riggs are notified that Lorna is finally going to have the baby, they drive on to the hospital, and Lorna is insisting on "getting married" before giving birth to the baby, and asks Leo to get a minister. All Leo could find was a Rabbi, named Rabbi Gelb. Lorna and Riggs only want to hear the words before the baby comes, and which Rabbi does for them, and after they are "pronounced man and wife," Leo gets a disposable cup from an elderly man and allowing Riggs to stomp on it in the Jewish tradition.

After the birth of the babies, and Riggs and Murtaugh being given back their positions as sergeants again, Leo puts on the captain badge, and is later seen buying a camera at a booth. There he tries to get everyone's photo in, and Riggs tells Leo to have the doctor take the photo and Leo to get in the photo, considering Leo his "best man." There they all have the photo taken to remember the family moment.

Television series [ ]

For info on Leo Getz in the TV series, click here.

Personality [ ]

Leo Getz is a hyperactive, talkative, cowardly, and fiercely loyal friend of Martin and Roger. When he first meets the detectives, they quickly become annoyed with him; at times, he even talks to himself. Anytime he gets into a certain subject, he will continue to talk about it, which is helpless on occasion. Getz also has different jobs in each film he appears in, so it can be implied he changes jobs because the people he works for also get annoyed with his non-stop talking.

Leo's past has proven to be a sad one, and it's further shown and told about in the fourth film.

Behind the Scenes [ ]

Leo Getz was portrayed by Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3 and Lethal Weapon 4.

Trivia [ ]

Leo was originally intended to be a one-off character, meaning he wasn't going to appear in the third film. He was added into "Lethal Weapon 3" at the last minute in the pre-production phase, and the film's poster makes a note of this adding "and Joe Pesci" in a handwritten style beneath Mel Gibson and Danny Glover's names.
Leo becomes a surrogate brother to Riggs and Murtaugh. He thinks of them and their families as his own.
Leo is usually Riggs and Murtagh inside guy aka their source and help them out in cases.

Gallery [ ]

To view the Leo Getz gallery, click here.

Appearances [ ]

Films
Lethal Weapon	Lethal Weapon 2	Lethal Weapon 3	Lethal Weapon 4

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Source: https://lethalweapon.fandom.com/wiki/Leo_Getz