The Matador Movie
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Storyline
TAGLINES
A hitman and a salesman walk into a bar...
A chance encounter between a travelling salesman and a lonely hitman triggers a strangely profound relationship which provokes each to act in ways neither would have imagined possible. Fate steps in to form a friendship between two men from irreconcilable worlds that will alter the lives of both forever.
| Pierce Brosnan | Julian Noble |
| Greg Kinnear | Danny Wright |
| Arlin Miller | Radio DJ |
| Hope Davis | Bean |
| Philip Baker Hall | Mr. Randy |
| Adam Scott | Phil Garrison |
| Dylan Baker | Lovell |
| Ramon Alvarez | Shooting Stand Owner |
| Carolyn Horwitz | Cantina Turista #1 |
| Jorge Robles | Hotel Bartender 2 |
| Hanny Sáenz | Fat Man's Girlfriend |
| Gabriela Goldsmith | Flirting Woman at Outdoor Café |
| Claudia Lobo | Vienna Fling |
| Adriana Dávila | Budapest Ballerina |
| Richard Shepard |
7.00 out of 10 (12484 votes)
Visitor Reviews
A change for Brosnan!
posted on 14 Aug 2009This was a complete change and departure from anything Brosnan has played in the past. If you are a Pierce fan it is worth seeing just to see the diversity, if not it is only a middle of the road film. It's a twisted comedy with good solid performances and was much better for Greg Kinnear that the flop comedy "stuck on you".Greg Kinnear and Pierce work well together and it was a good character for Gred Kinnear. But the film is lacking in a stronger storyline and more clever humor. It's a good premise and a really good attempt; not a bad watch for a night you'd llke to rent a video but not up to par with actually going to the theatre to see it. Can't wait to see what Pierce tries next!
Surprisingly Good.
posted on 14 Aug 2009Like most people who saw this film, I expected either a violent dark comedy or a sleazy play on Brosnan's old James Bond character. Of course, what I got was neither. The movie is very well made--with different pieces of the story being given to us at different times, but not at all in a confusing, overbearingly artsy way. There is a constant conflict in the film between brevity and gravity that works the entire time to keep you wondering just what really is the truth behind Julian? The acting is great on all ends, and the humor is constant but not so much as to become a distraction from the story. This story does not need a distraction to keep your attention. Very good film. Definitely worth renting or buying the DVD.
Entertaining dark comedy, Brosnan and Kinnear are very good.
posted on 12 Aug 2009We English speaking people usually think of "bull fighter" when we hear the term "matador." But a literal translation from Spanish, my high school friend Emily pointed out, is "kill." Pierce Brosnan plays a matador, a killer, an assassin, in this movie. He is Julian Noble, and man with no home, no permanent address. He goes where he is paid to go, he does what he is paid to do, without judgement or remorse.Greg Kinnear is honest, hard-working business man Danny, married to his high school sweetheart for 14 years, 'Bean' (Hope Davis). He is in Mexico City with an associate to make a big business pitch to a Mexican group, and getting the contract will finally punctuate his hard climb up to respectability in his career.Danny and Julian happen to meet up in a Mexican bar, two different personalities, they almost part in anger, but Julian always apologizes later for his very crude behavior and they become friends of sorts.In many ways this is a rough movie. People are targeted and killed. Julian uses very rough language. There are several scenes of nudity and simulated sex. Julian seems only to care about finding a sex partner wherever he goes, the younger the better. But IF a viewer can get past all that, it is a well crafted and funny movie with a strange twist after Julian and Danny become unlikely friends.SPOILERS FOLLOW. There is a scene mid-movie where Julian is banging on Danny's hotel door, and it goes black before it ends, and we only find out near the end what happened. Danny really needed the Mexican contract, and it turns out Julian offered to bump off the man who was standing in the way. Julian got rid of him, Danny got the contract. Months later Julian shows up at Danny's door in Denver, cold and snowing, Julian is now a target because he has lost his focus, is missing assignments. Since Danny "owes" him, they travel together of warm Nevada, a race track, where Danny helps Julian bump off the very man who had ordered Julian's killing. Julian and Danny, an unlikely alliance.
One Kiss, One Bang
posted on 29 Jul 2009Now we are seeing a wave of neo-noirish versions of detective, gangster and assassin movies. Metamovies about genres, and this type done for dramatic effect rather than comedy.I love it, at least when it is novel as is this, "Brick" and "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang." This time the filmic reference is a comic backdrop for what most folks call character development, but in this case is more definition than development because nothing changes.Here's what we have: 1) the backdrop of the world as a movie. We only touch one character in that world, the assassin played by our Bond guy. 2) that guy who's personal dynamics are as cartoonish as that of the world he's from. The world isn't comic but he is. 3) we have the designated watcher (Kinnear) from our world implanted in the movie world, using ordinary Hitchcockian noir dynamics. We sometimes have his wife as well, goggle-eyed with pleased amusement at the fun of it.We of course are meant to be folded into the thing by equating us as watcher with the embedded watcher. It works.Its a simple construction, but very, very effective, all of which is a long way of explaining why you'll laugh yourself silly.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
story is told with a dark, clever little pumping heart
posted on 25 Jul 2009The Matador reviewed by Sam Osborn rating: 3 out of 4The tagline for The Matador reads, "A hit-man and salesman walk into a bar..." Essentially, this little tidbit, this little snatchet of a dark, clever joke is the epitome of The Matador. It's the joke that follows this simple tagline. The joke you've heard while sitting around bored on a car-trip, or while waiting in line for a movie ticket; or as the assassin Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) tells Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), it's just "the best cocktail story you'll ever tell." But The Matador tells this joke and succeeds in extending its telling through a 100 minute running length. The joke's characters are brought convincingly to reality, and its story is told with a dark, clever little pumping heart.The aforementioned bar is set in Mexico. Danny Wright (Kinnear) has flown in from his suburban life in Denver to make a long-awaited business deal. He's hit dead ends with unemployment and failed business endeavors for a couple years now, and secretly believes his wife, Bean (Hope Davis) will leave him if he doesn't seal this one tight. At the same bar is Julian Noble (Brosnan), a lonely, drunk and womanizing hit-man whose outward aversion to friendship is constantly betrayed by his severe loneliness. When Danny strikes up friendly bar conversation with the line, "The margaritas are the best in Mexico," Julian replies saying, "Yes, margaritas and cock." But Julian soon realizes his mistake and corrects his rudeness, only to later soil Danny's heartfelt story of a family loss with a misaimed dirty joke, ending their bar conversation for good. But, alas, Julian won't give up on this fledgling chance at friendship and, the next day, invites Danny to a bullfight. The two shoot the breeze at first, tossing about light jokes and cheers for the matadors, until Danny pops the awkward question of, "So, what do you do for a living?" Julian avoids a straight reply, but Danny of course eggs him on and eventually the cat's out of the bag. The Matador works in the sense that it doesn't rely on plot for fuel. Recent dark comedies--The Ice Harvest, for example--placed too much emphasis on the crossing, double crossing, and even triple crossing of the characters. The Matador doesn't bother itself with such nonsense. Danny and Julian are simply two men of polar opposite lifestyles having a swell time in Mexico. Sure, there's a subplot with Julian's evil employer getting steamed over a missed hit, but at the heart of The Matador is the wickedly delightful buddy comedy between Julian and Danny. Director/Writer Richard Shepard knows we care more for the characters than the plot and made the decision to put their interaction at the film's base, instead of muddying it with unnecessary plot contrivances. It had to be a welcome opportunity for Pierce Brosnan to find a role that finally let him turn his James Bond identity completely on its end. Where James Bond strolled about in a suave tuxedo and a gaggle of supermodels bubbling about his heels, Julian Noble strides from his hotel room in a neon Speedo and a hangover from the night before. Brosnan looks to be having fun with this role and achieves the essential goal of causing us to have fun along with him. His performance is the film's selling point, with his audacious tackiness running indelibly contrary to his vicious promiscuity and serial inebriation. His loneliness humanizes him, but his newfound friendship with Danny could just be the end of the salesman's innocence. Richard Shepard takes all this on with smooth directorial coolness and carefully measures out meticulous doses of solemnity to balance out The Matador's wicked humor. Because sometimes, between their conversational escapades, Danny and Julian finally get to talking about the stuff of real gravity. It's no philosophic discourse, but Shepard lets us believe his characters are human, at times even reminding us of Patrice Leconte's 2002 film Man on the Train, which explored the profundity of a similar situation. But then Julian will say something like, "I look like a Bangkok hooker on a Sunday morning after the Navy's left town," and the profundity is gone.
south of the border
posted on 15 Jul 2009First of all there were some gay, bisexual issues hinted at in the movie.. thank god they weren't revealed as true in the movie. I loved the Bull Fighting scenes very nice. Pierce Brosnan has always had a sharp wit about him,, very comical.. ever since the 80's with Remington Steele for those of you old enough to remember that one. This movie was better than i had expected to be perfectly honest with you. Greg Kinnear who i don't know that much about did a fairly decent job with the character that he portrayer's, i really did like Hope Davis's character, she was a sweetheart. The plot was good, although it's pretty close to Grosse Point Blank. but anyway nice sets, good dialog, very witty, only slow for a few mins in the middle, but otherwise a very watchable movie, that is funny and interesting, a very character driven movie,, that i would watch again soon.
Getting screwed by Pierce Brosnan
posted on 05 Jul 2009James Bond movies are really fantasy imagery for a male audience. Not a few men dream of being--or at least of bedding--the irresistible Bond, whose gloss comes in part from his amoral ability to do whatever it takes to screw the bad guys, not to mention the over-the-top spectacular babes.Now comes an over-the-hill, washed-up Pierce Brosnan who lost the Bond franchise to fresh meat, but who's still trying to prove his manhood by screwing whomever looks good at the moment and taking out whomever he's paid to kill. In other words, the dark mirror image of the Bond character...and Brosnan's superb at hilarious comedic send-ups of the Bond imagery, as when he's humping a whore doggie style in Vienna while whore's little doggie, not to be outdone, is humping his leg.This visually dazzling comedic riff on noir themes works because of the mutual seduction going on between aging hit-man Julian Noble (Brosnan) and desperate salesman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), an odd couple who are neither noble nor interested in doing what's right. Basically they'll do anything or screw anything to get ahead (maybe including each other--which adds some spice to their relationship!), mirroring the corporate culture that pays them.Danny's on a learning curve in the school of hard knocks, and Julian will teach him a few tricks of the hit-man's trade in return for getting a little help in taking out a few targets. Meanwhile, Julian is dying to get an idealized home and family life, the one thing he's never had.In fact, by the end of the movie, these two characters, who are so enamored of each other, have merged by trading places: Julian's the quivering, falling-apart guy while Danny's clearly in charge, and despite the intentional ambiguity of the story line, may indeed have been the trigger man to take out some bad guys, possibly including his competition for the big contract that will save him financially, not to mention Julian's employer when it becomes necessary to eliminate him as well. Basically you just do whatever you have to do to win.So while the film is a very dark commentary on corporate mercenaries, it plays as a charming bad-boy buddy movie. And as Katherine Ross did for Butch and Sundance, we have Hope Davis supplying some heterosexual insurance for Kinnear's character as his faithful, hopeful wife. In the final scene we have an Adam and Eve in the garden (actually at their dead son's grave), restored to their innocence as a couple, as the snake gets ready to make his next move. Between the lines of the happy ending it doesn't take much imagination to get that Brosnan's idea of nobility, or perhaps of heaven, is to bed them both on a charming little Greek island with charming little Greeks. In other words, he's permanently invaded the couple's relationship, and there's nothing, it seems, that they can do to get rid of him, even if they wanted to. He's as irresistible as Warren Beatty when Bonnie joined Clyde's gang.I can't wait for the sequel.
A fairly interesting dramedy, though frustratingly erratic
posted on 25 Jun 2009This movie veers wildly between good and bad (though thankfully never straying into 'ugly' territory). The writing and acting show flashes of brilliance almost as often as they show flashes of incompetence.The acting is mostly above par with Brosnan showing some depth as he ping-pongs between ultra-efficient hit-man and emotional train wreck. Kinnear ably plays the everyman. However, the cracks show from time to time and I find myself remembering why I don't really like either of these actors. Hope Davis is pretty underwhelming as well but not completely hopeless (sorry for the bad pun).The writing is good at most times but that only highlights how bad it is at other times. The overall storyline is fairly satisfying with a few interesting character-based scenes but it's mostly the small details that stick out. One problem is the vulgarity, namely sex jokes and profanity that seemed tacked on merely to give a vague impression of edginess. I don't have a problem with that kind of content but here it just suggests laziness on the part of the screenwriter.On the technical side, the aural & visual presentation is undeniably appealing. There are some hip song choices and the director clearly knows his craft. Nothing too flashy but attractive nevertheless.In the end, there's slightly more good than bad though not enough to lead me to recommend the film.
A Great Matador!
posted on 15 Jun 2009"Ole" down & relax and read my film review of the dazzling flick "The Matador" and I promise you no bull! This film is a sure prize winner in sheer entertainment value. Pierce Brosnan stars as Julian Noble, a not so noble hit-man who is hit by an enduring loneliness condition. Greg Kinnear co-stars as Danny Wright, a "always do the wright thing" salesman who desperately tries to close a business deal which will turn his recent wretched fate for the better. Hope Davis co-stars as Bean, the supporting perky Mrs. Wright who like Danny is grieving the loss of their only son a couple of years back. However, the focus of "The Matador" is on the startling friendship of Julian and Danny. The antithesis pair meet in a Mexico City hotel bar. After their alcoholic journey in Margaritaville, Julian invites Danny to a Mexico City bullfight and before you know it the audacious Julian has the insipid Danny by the horns by having this odd couple befriended. What follows is an unpredictable exhilarating story of friendship, morality, and devotion. It also happens to be a comic delight! Brosnan's bullseye performance as Noble deserves a Noble Acting Peace Prize. The former Bondman plays against stereotype and shakes & stirs you in a way that adds up as a surefire hit. Kinnear continues his "actor auto focus" consistency with another impressive performance. And I hope more filmgoers while now know what Hope Davis is probably the most underrated actress working in films today. Her superb work here as Bean might even get her a spin-off film called Mrs. Bean! Writer-Director Richard Shepard's effort could now classify him as a "Good Shepard" Director. Richard's directorial craftiness and cunning scribe was embodied with entertainment richness. My next hit is to encourage you to witness "The Matador" in cinematic action! It will not kill you! Matador!!! Matador!!!! ***** Excellent
"The Professional", one of the best times I've had at the theater all year, Kinnear and Brosnan produce laughs and an outrageously good time
posted on 11 Jun 2009***1/2 Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Adam Scott, Philip Baker Hall. Directed by Richard Shepard.A well formulated story and film all together, Brosnan has never been better in a film role outside of his "Bond" movies. After 2004's "After the sunset" his newest role brings in the laughs and a great time. Professional hit-man, so to speak, Julian Noble on a job in Mexico City winds up meeting the exact opposite of himself a high strung business man Danny Wright (Kinnear, possibly one of his best roles) also on business there. The two on-screen duo produce a comically charged, laugh riot and fail to not deliver the laughs. Davis in one of her best roles since "American Splendor" gives another charming and witty performance. One of the years most enjoyable and best films. My final rating 9/10
The Matador
posted on 07 Jun 2009The Matador is about an aging hit-man named Julian Noble who can often be rude, crass and is often drunk as well. On a mission in Mexico he meets a timid man at a bar named Danny Wright. At first Julian totally offends Danny, but over the next couple of days they see each other again and Julian apologizes and tries to be Danny's friend. Danny is a little taken back when he finds out what Julian does for a living, but still wants to bond with him. After that trip six months go by and one night Danny finds Julian at his doorstep asking to come in. Julian explains that seeing as he didn't follow through with one of his missions that he will now be killed unless he kills someone else, but he needs Danny's help to do it. The rest of the film shows more bonding with Julian and Danny as they go on one last mission which may save Julian or end up killing him. I thought that Pierce Brosnan did a very good job playing the character of Julian who eventually grows on us through the movie, but overall I didn't much care for this movie. The film starts out with what sounds like an intriguing idea, but it never really goes anywhere with it. There isn't a whole lot of story to The Matador and what is left in the film is supposed to be funny, but I don't recall ever laughing once or finding any of it at all to be funny. Because there really isn't a lot to the film I often felt a little bored at times and I felt that some scenes went on longer than they should have. With a good performance by Pierce Brosnan and an intriguing idea I felt that this movie good have been a really good film, but it hit's the wrong notes and just manages to be a little film that will soon be forgotten, by me at least.
A Tight, Taut Script and Impeccable Cast Create a Winner for Richard Shepard
posted on 05 Jun 2009THE MATADOR is one of those surprising films whose title seems to suggest something entirely different from the story it tells - until the viewer has the pleasure of viewing this fast paced, immensely entertaining comedy and 'Matador' takes on a whole new meaning! Richard Shepard wrote and directed this story of a hit-man (Pierce Brosnan in one of his finest roles) on the skids who happens to meet a sweet nice guy (Greg Kinnear) whose business is so on the skids that he has traveled to Mexico City for a chance for survival, temporarily leaving behind his wife (Hope Davis) in the midst of a rainy accident to their home. The two disparate men meet in a bar, share drinks, and after some of the cleverest tête a tête on film form a bond that neither of them expects. Brosnan's hit-man character and Kinnear's slipping business failure at first collide and then mutually benefit from embracing what seem to be polar opposites of characters. How the whole chance meeting alters their lives is hilarious, edgy, and tender.Brosnan, Kinnear, and Davis display fine ensemble acting and keep the movie constantly flowing despite the strange twists and turns the story takes. But a great deal of the credit goes to the razor sharp direction of Richard Shepard whose sense of comic and dramatic timing are superb. This is a very well done, highly entertaining film that offers the cast plum roles and the audience a terrific evening of entertainment. Grady Harp
Stars off with a bang, goes out with a thud
posted on 12 May 2009I really started to get my hopes up during the first half of this film. I loved the beautiful Mexico City locations and the incredible bull fighting shots. Moreover, the director incorporated so much color into the choreography. It was a very interesting film to watch. OK, Greg Kinear plays a character that makes Bob Dole look interesting, I could kind of get around that. Pierce Brosnan played his evil twin of James Bond very well, amusing, but with a pitch dark side as well. However, the second half of this film got plain tedious and boring, as if the writer was having some conflicts of his own. It was enough to make me really shift my view of this film from an 8 to a 6. Can someone please tell me why they bothered going to Hungary and any of these other locations? The imagery was neat, but the storyline just did not incorporate it. The ending was also sappy and too convenient. I applaud Brosnan for the brave and creative choice, and of course his skilled performance. But it would have been nice if he could have gotten some help from another actor, or a writer.
Post-Bond Brosnan "kills" them in this excellent film.
posted on 12 May 2009Enjoyed this film mainly because I did not know where it was going to go from one scene to the next. I may have fell into the traps that the director/writer set but it was an enjoyable fall and I don't begrudge him one little bit. I love that Brosnan seems to have matured as an actor since Bond as he is prepared to play against type and take risks.Almost makes me regret Pierce not doing this kind of work earlier in his career (Remmington Steel? don't think so..) such is the performance he gives here and in other recent films. Maybe he knows this as well and is making up for lost time? Or doesn't need the money so doesn't have to take any old sh*t that he's offered? Even when he is not playing against type so much (Thomas Crown Affair) he is still eminently watchable. Only slight gripe with the film is that perhaps the Director was trying a teeny-weeny bit too hard to be kooky in a "tarantinoesque" way but again this didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the film. Greg Kinnear is delightful in that mild-mannered middle-class thing he does so well. Hope Davis equally good. Watch it.
Pleasant Surprise
posted on 22 Apr 2009Picked up the DVD of this little known film and was pleasantly surprised by a unusual story and well acted by two fine actors. This is a different kind of role for Pierce Brosnan an Greg Kinnear and I for one enjoyed their portrayal. It is the story two men who meet in a Mexican bar and how their relationship grows. One is a salesman, and the other is paid killer who is at a crisis time in his life and before I give away the story, how their two lives intertwine, and the surprise ending. This is not a great movie but it is two hours of an usual story. Go get the DVD and I am sure you will enjoy this film as much as I and my family did. Enjoy!!!!
An entertaining film
posted on 18 Apr 2009Shepards film about an assassin Julian Noble(Brosnan), is both funny and entertaining. The strength of its film would definitely be its screenplay and characters, although at times it didn't have the brilliant scene-after-scene feel that better films may have, but it pays off in the end and the actors do a good job. Brosnan was casted well and i liked him here, but i thought Kinnear was a bit miscast though he was not bad, a talented actor. Scott and Baker Hall were good in supporting roles while Hope Davis was good as well. The direction was not bad, but at times it seemed to drift off to tangents and i thought Shepards screenplay was better than his direction. Nonetheless a good entertaining film. IMDb rating: 7.1 my rating: 8/10
Neither shaken nor stirred.. just okay..
posted on 18 Apr 2009Ho hum.. all aboard for the "Brosman actually does have acting chops and you know what? So does Kinnear, sort of... " jamboree. I saw the two Bills- either Pullman or Paxton- pulling the nebbish role off more convincingly. Predictable, quirky buddy flick fare, leavened with moments of inspired lunacy through great writing, direction and good acting such as the 'Naa, naa naa' exchanges with the kid and the exploding BMW as Julian strides away unperturbed, after having insulted the kid's mom, rather pithily. Philip Baker Hall is as always, a Harry Dean Stanton calibre scene saviour. A sequel?.. in Greece ..so, like, what the heck, Harvey and Bob, maybe throw in Penelope Cruz and John Hurt cameos? Note to a previous writer: yep, I'm a Canadian and gave it a 4.
Not perfect, but a thrilling dark comedy nonetheless
posted on 12 Apr 2009I went to see this dramedy crime thriller on the big screen early in 2006, after it had been playing for a while. For me, this turned out to be an excellent movie-going experience, and from what I remember, I left the theatre in a very good mood that night. Nearly a year and a half later, I rented the movie, having not seen it since then. While watching it a second time, it didn't turn out to be quite as good as I remembered, but came very close, so I'm still far from the nay side.Julian Noble is hit-man who travels around the world, wherever he is assigned to kill! Danny Wright is salesman from Denver, Colorado. While these two are both on business trips in Mexico City, they meet in a bar and begin a conversation. This conversation doesn't go so well, but the two see each other a lot during their stay in the city, in more than one place, including a stadium, where they go to see a bullfight together. They gradually learn about each other, but Danny has never known anyone with the same profession as Julian before, and as Julian tries to convince him what he does for a living, Danny is skeptical. However, Danny eventually learns that it's true, and Julian even asks him to help with a job, which Danny is disgusted by! What will ensue?! The humour in "The Matador" is often dark, and often raunchy as well, and for those who like that, it works well. Some of the dramatic parts may be a bit lacklustre, while others work well. There's also a reasonable amount of suspense in the film, which is something you would probably hope for in any hit-man movie. Another highlight is the performance from Pierce Brosnan, former James Bond star, as Julian Noble. The movie isn't 100% consistent in quality, but overall, it's mostly intriguing to the right viewers. If you like dark humour, crime thrillers, and can at least handle a bit of sex, you could find a lot to like in this movie.
Comedy thriller about the nice guy assassin
posted on 06 Apr 2009A Matador, we are told, has a strict code of honour. To kill the bull with a swift, lethal strokes is best, rather than progressively wounding it with many sword strokes. A sword is slid into the bull at a lethal spot, minimizing pain (and the crowd's moral discomfort).The opening scene of our film sets the tone as light comedy when a tree, struck in a thunder storm, falls into a house - interrupting a young couple as they have sex in the kitchen. Dusting themselves off, he turns to her with, "Are you still horny?" Pierce Brosnan, on the other hand, is the hard working private assassin, Julian Noble. "Now this smells like a parody", a TV presenter overvoices. We catch up with Julian on his birthday - which he has no-one to celebrate with. His is a hectic and demanding schedule, and it is starting to take a toll. His life is a solitary one - wherever he is working is his home. He has no colleagues, only a contact who reaches him through regular newspaper advertisements to pass on details of the next job (usually corporate 'facilitating'). Noble is a facilitator. He facilitates death, and the only other people in his life, outside of his targets, are strings of whores in various exotic locations.Almost at the point of exhaustion and winding down over several margaritas, he manages to make a friendship of sorts with Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), a businessman down on his luck who somehow tolerates Noble's haltingly inadequate people skills. Greg Kinnear provides the clown against which straight man Bosnan can play. Some time later, when Noble himself is being hunted, he turns to Danny for solace.The Matador veers uneasily between comedy and psychological drama, with a few lightweight thrills thrown in. At a bullfight match, Danny challenges Julian to 'show' him what he means when he says he is a 'hitman', and we are on the edge of our seats while we wait to see if he is going to go through with a killing. At other times, Brosnan just about manages to play down his calling as 'one hell of a tall story' to his newly found, ingenuous (and unlikely) pal-in-times-of-need. There are some great visual scenes - Brosnan striding confidently through the hotel lobby in his swimming trunks, or the colourful bullfighting footage - and the script just about manages to pull off what is an unlikely story. But when Brosnan's character starts to break down and lose his cool, we realise that although this actor has come along way since his pre- James Bond days, the water is almost over his head if he should try any deep psychological character portrayal. There are a few interesting twists - we are kept in suspense about Noble's true sexuality and some of the targets; but when the film reaches its more introspective moments, with Noble suffering blackouts, we have to adjust to a change of pace. Brosnan describes himself as looking "like a Bangkok hooker on a Sunday morning the night after the navy left town" but the gags here are aimed at pathos more than laughs. We wonder if there is a dark secret between him and Greg Kinnear's character and we are not disappointed. As hit men go, this one is quite a nice guy. Released around the same time as Spielberg's Munich, one might wonder if a whole new genre of humanised hit men will target our screens.The Matador is entertaining if superficial. As an actor, Brosnan is showing promise without quite reaching the heights to which a professional of his experience might aspire. While offering little more than light consumer fare, you will at least not feel the pain as your hand slides into your wallet for the price of admission, or discomfort as you give up an hour and a half of your precious time.
A pleasant surprise
posted on 20 Aug 2009PIERCE Brosnan doing a Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean). At first thought that might sound rather ridiculous but, unbelievably it works. This movie is a bit long-winded but very, very entertaining.Greg Kennear as masterful as always.It's a buddy movie, an assassin movie and a mystery all folded into one - with a few Tarantino wannabe touches tossed in - but you can forgive that because, after all, the big QT copies (sorry, pays 'homage' to) everyone anyway.Delightful cast, great music, top cinematography and just enough irony and suspense. Spot on.