The Matador - Palm Beach Post movie review

'The Matador': Bonding, male bonding

By HAP ERSTEIN
Palm Beach Post

The best thing about The Matador, which takes a wry inside look at the dying profession of assassin, is the casting of Pierce Brosnan.

As gone-to-seed hit man Julian Noble, he lends the movie an instant comic edge because of the unspoken contrast between his character and his best-known role, the perpetually dapper James Bond.

The Weinstein Company

'The Matador'

B+

The verdict: Brosnan as a seedy assassin provides much of the fun in this offbeat buddy picture.

Director: Richard Shepard
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Adam Scott, Philip Baker Hall
Run time: 97 minutes
Release date: Dec. 30, 2005
Rating: R for strong sexual content and language.
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Brosnan has his tongue so firmly planted in his cheek, it is a wonder his dialogue can be understood. Still, if that were all the flick had going for it, it could hardly sustain interest long. Yet The Matador remains amusing for its hour-and-a-half running time, despite some fairly twisted plot twists.

Out-of-shape and casually crude, Julian travels the world as a "facilitator of fatalities," as contemporary title inflation puts it. And one tequila-tinged night in a hotel bar in Mexico City, he meets hopelessly conventional, sad sack Denver salesman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), whose life will be fundamentally changed by the encounter. Knowing they will never meet again, Danny bares his soul to Julian, who breaks the mood with a tastelessly inappropriate joke.

The next day, Julian tries to apologize by inviting Danny to a bullfight. There, after much prodding, he tells his unlikely new buddy what he really does for a living. Danny is understandably dubious, until Julian walks him through an impromptu killing and getaway. Danny is appalled, then intrigued, then attracted to Julian's underworld world, and cannot wait to tell his wife, Bean (Hope Davis), about the colorful character he has met.

Julian continues globe-hopping and executing murder contracts, but killing is a young man's game, and he begins losing his nerve and heading toward a nervous breakdown. Months later, he shows up on Danny's doorstep, even more of a physical wreck, imploring Danny for his assistance on one last lethal job. Bean is excited to actually meet the fabled Julian, and they stay up to the wee hours, drinking and listening to jazz, before Danny crosses the inviolable line to become Julian's temporary accomplice.

The Matador trades on the odd-couple match-up of Brosnan and Kinnear as much as it does on Julian and Danny. There is just enough darkness in writer-director Richard Shepard's screenplay to ground the story in a believability of sorts, which allows Brosnan to play as broadly as he does. Uncharacteristically, Kinnear is the straight man, and the chemistry between the two actors — each one playing against type — is very refreshing. Add the supporting work of Davis, giddy with her unexpected proximity with danger, and the three of them manage to give the material true comic bite.

Shot on a relative shoestring, part of the fun of the movie is how many locations it is set in — each announced in giant capital letters — yet the filming never leaves Mexico City.

Shepard's ability to give it a high gloss on the cheap is a subliminal message to the audience that the movie's murderous ways need not be taken very seriously.

The Matador is an indication that Shepard is likely to be around for a long time to come and that Brosnan is forging a whole new career for himself.