The Matador (2005) User Reviews

Blushy, Blushy ...

[ferguson-6 · 8/10 · 7 January 2006]

Greetings again from the darkness. Much anticipated, twisted comedy from writer/director Richard Shepard is a coming out party for Pierce Brosnan the actor. That Bond guy is gone. This new guy is something else entirely!! Have read that Shepard thought Brosnan was too much the pretty boy for this plum role, but Brosnan proves to be the perfect Julian Noble, "Facilitator" ... and is anything but pretty! Do not underestimate how twisted the humor is in this one. If you go, expect punch lines and sight gags regarding all types of sex, killing, religion, sports, business and anything else you might deem politically incorrect. Brosnan takes an excellent script to another level with his marvelous facial gestures and physical movements. Even sitting on a hotel bed (with or without a sombrero) is a joy to behold.

Greg Kinnear is the straight guy to Brosnan's comic and has plenty of depth and comic timing to make this partnership click. Hope Davis has a small, but subtly effective supporting role as Kinnear's wife (what's with her name "Bean"?) who happens to get a little excited when she has a facilitator in her living room.

The visuals and settings are perfect - including a bullfight, racetrack and Denver suburb. And how often do we get The Killers and Xavier Cugat on the same soundtrack? This one is definitely not for everyone, but if your sense of humor is a bit off center and you enjoy risky film-making, it could be for you.

Humorous and multi-location story with a hit-man at the core.

[susieflann · 7/10 · 22 January 2005]

The delivery of some very humorous rude lines by Pierce Brosnan is alone worth the price of admission. He plays a kind of "James Bond's psycho twin brother", separated at birth, no doubt. As an intense hit-man, his character is very sexual but even better, very funny. Add the kind-hearted, uber-likable American "guy next door', Greg Kinnear, to set up contrast. The myriad locations, vivid colors, and quick-witted humor provide great entertainment. Hope Davis is well cast as the "gem of a wife". But the focus of the film is on the two fellows, a new "Odd Couple", and that's the part that works very well. Have a great (probably R-rated) laugh, and look for the places where the story goes a little deeper.

"Just consider me the best cocktail party story you ever met."

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 12 December 2019]

Star / producer Pierce Brosnan exercises his comedic chops in this rather nuanced look at the life and career of a veteran hitman. Julian Noble (Brosnan) meets a struggling businessman, Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) when their paths cross in Mexico City. The two become good friends - better friends than we even realize at first, because after Julian has botched more than one job, he becomes a dead man walking. And it is Danny to whom he turns for help. While Danny and his wife "Bean" (Hope Davis) are understandably dismayed at the presence of a professional killer in their home, they get over it, becoming rather intrigued by this charming, eccentric individual.

The supporting cast features some solid actors - Philip Baker Hall, Dylan Baker, Adam Scott - and Davis is enchanting as the loving wife, but the main reason that "The Matador" works as well as it does is due to the interplay between two interesting characters. Brosnan and Kinnear play this extremely well; indeed, Brosnan has never been quite this endearing or amusing before. Also, "The Matador" is a highly offbeat affair, foregoing some of the trappings that one might expect from a tale about a hitman. It forgets about violence (for the most part) and action set pieces, concentrating on its poignant moments and its humour.

Written and directed by the talented Richard Shepard, "The Matador" spends some time globe trotting and offering up some international locales. The title stems from Julians' enjoyment of watching bullfights, and belief that the spectacle is not without honour. The struggle of our haunted main character to overcome his mental blocks and emotional problems does make him vulnerable, and certainly as likeable as any person could be who earns their living killing people.

The brief sight of Brosnan in a cheerleaders' outfit is absolutely priceless. He'd made a good living playing debonair types, but here he really cuts loose for once, and the film is all the better for it. But this is not meant to sell Kinnear short, as he does an excellent job at playing the "straight man" with a tragic past and uncertain present.

Seven out of 10.

"Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan," is not all you think...Matador is KILLER Comedy!!

[JeromeFreeman · 7 November 2005]

A Note: I think it's best if go to the theater thinking, "Pierce Brosnan = James Bond." This is what I was expecting. Normally, I will have seen the trailer before going to a film. In this instance, I saw an advance screening as a part of the Austin Film Festival and had only seen a promotional photo of Brosnan walking away from an exploding car. This reinforced the stereotype I had for Brosnan. I think the distributor of this film would have been wise to promote it in this manner, feeding people's stereotypes by using this James Bond-esquire image, for I think the effectiveness of the comedy may in large measure be a reaction to what a drastic departure it is for Brosnan. And this was, no doubt, his intention.

Plot Summary: The story is about hit man Julian Noble. Noble, on assignment in Mexico City, has somewhat of a meltdown when he realizes his nomadic existence has left him with no one -- no friends or family, not even a place to call home. Desperate for companionship, he starts up conversation with Danny Wright, a normal guy, with a normal life, in town on business. Unaccustomed to normal social etiquette he scares Wright off, but pleads for forgiveness the next day and requests that he accompany him to a bull fight. And the comedy begins as Julian decides to open up to his new friend more about what he does for a living. All is well until Julian realizes his "meltdown" is serious and he is having difficulty following through on his "assignments." He therefore has to ask for help from his new friend Danny.

Analysis: Brosnan took a substantial risk in signing on to this picture. Paying him less than he would normally receive, and requiring that he sport a creepy 'stache, a pot belly and trade in his custom- tailored Armani suits for tight-fitting-euro-pimp threads, you would think he would be out of his element. It turns out to be quite the contrary. Brosnan proves that he is more than James Bond or Thomas Crowne. He proves that he can be one of the most entertaining comedic actors working right now as well. The dynamic between Kinnear and Brosnan is delectable. Kinnear plays such a likable straight man cum everyman, and Brosnan plays such a likable hit man, and the combination of the two is irresistible. Their rapport with each other is so ripe for comedy that you want it in every scene.

While the film uses many conventional cinematic devices, I couldn't help but feel as if I was watching something very fresh and original. Largely, I can attribute this to the performance of Brosnan, but it was also interesting that the film maintained the feel of a fast passed action movie, in keeping with Brosnan's most notable genre.

I highly recommend this film.

JeromeFreeman.com

The sweetest hit-man-buddy movie I've ever seen.

[IAN-Cinemaniac · 7/10 · 16 November 2005]

THE MATADOR is hit-man movie lite....if you can say that about a hit-man movie. The violence is never really shown but often introduced. At first I was scared I was in for another retread of mid-90s gangster-hit-man-hipster-dark comedy BUT was happily surprised when I realized this is just a sweet and humorous story about friendship. Nothing terribly exciting happens in this film but every bit of it is kept me grinning. The three leads have the best chemistry the big screen has offered in recent years and it looks like they had a great time making this film together. The writing is sharp though at times it felt as if the script had been adapted from a stage play because of the one set dialog scenes. This is a good film that I probably won't remember for too long but at the time it was a complete joy. Good film.

Stunning performance by Brosnan sadly wrapped in a mediocre film

[Flagrant-Baronessa · 6/10 · 9 August 2006]

A hit-man who is The Dude and Bad Santa both at once.

Pierce Brosnan is at his best and most hilarious in Richard Sherpherd's The Matador (2005), as a booze-drenched over the hill hit-man who loves bullfights, tacky clothes and teenage girls. It is his unapologetic lust for the latter that provide some great laughs in the film.. There is nothing funnier than hearing a sleazy, broken-down version of James Bond exclaim after ogling some Catholic schoolgirls, "God I hate these Catholic countries; it's all blushy blushy, no suckie fuckie."

So Brosnan has a terrifically dirty mouth in The Matador and this is juxtaposed with Greg Kinnear's goody-goody family man character in their newfound, unlikely friendship. Both these characters elicit real sympathy, but especially Brosnan who should be a very unlikable character, a man desperate for a meaningful relationship in his life but just can't stop himself from saying the wrong things. We follow these two very different men as they learn from each other and start changing their lives, projecting equal doses of heart and humour.

The Matador effective in the sense that it mixes absurdity and quirkiness just right and glazes it with a dark comedy coating feel. It is also quite funny thanks to its Brosnan performance, but it does not have much in the way of a plot and no other characters or detours are even worth mentioning - so it is sadly very forgettable. Still, if you are even a slight fan of Brosnan's I urge you to see this film which is easily his greatest performance, and it's a crime he wasn't showered with awards for it.

6.5/10

The anti anti-hero

[ivko · 7/10 · 21 April 2006]

The Matador is a strange film. Its main character Julian, played with an unusual mix of charm and unbalance by Brosnan, is not your typical hero. Julian is a hit man who is experiencing a late mid-life crises. Having spent 22 years in the profession of cold blooded murder he now finds himself stressed out and desperately lonely. And so, after a chance meeting at a bar with Danny (Greg Kinnear), he latches on and begins a halting, awkward friendship. Danny, the quintessential nice guy, is dealing with some stuff in his own life and, truth be told, could use a friend as well. The two make an unexpected connection, and Danny sticks around to hear Julian's story, even after learning the "unsavory" truth about Julian's work.

Matador approaches a subject not completely unheard of in cinema, the anti-hero assassin (films like 'Assassins' and 'Grosse Pointe Blank' come to mind). But Matador differs in several key ways. First of all, the killing and gore is implied but never really shown in any detail, meaning that if you are an action movie buff looking for an adrenaline rush this movie will probably disappoint you. And second, unlike most anti-hero films, Matador makes no attempt to show remorse and redemption from its main character. Julian's job is simply presented as an 'it is what it is' kind of thing. This is unusual, given that 99.99% of us would consider killing for money horrific. And yet this unorthodox approach is perhaps what makes the film feel authentic. Although we don't like to admit it, almost anything could become mundane after we did it long enough, maybe even murder. Did Julian's victims deserve to die? Who is paying to have people killed? Who knows. The movie never deals with these questions. The focus is on Julian and his stumbling shuffle into a genuine friendship. If you read about someone like Julian in the paper you would have a passing thought that people like him should be ripped out of society like a cancer, but forced to watch his life you are drawn in by his intense humanity. Sympathy for the devil, I guess.

Brosnan's take on Julian is well done and deeply unsettling. He doesn't completely divorce himself from his James Bond good looks and smooth charm, but rather just adds disturbing quirks into the mix. Weird or crude remarks in the middle polite conversations and sudden shifts from suave charm to childish tantrums and sad desperate pleas for acceptance. It keeps you guessing about his grasp on his sanity and how it will affect those around him. It's a bit like listening to a piano player that occasionally and unexpectedly hits a wrong note while he plays, but it works. The films only other major role, that of Danny, is not nearly as meaty. Kinnear turns in a solid if unspectacular performance as a regular Joe with a regular Joe life and problems.

The film doesn't really have any huge shocks or M Night Shyamalan twists, but I wasn't able to guess the ending and it felt satisfying. It doesn't have any deep philosophical or spiritual insights and yet it felt very human. And it didn't have any heart pounding car chases or gun battles and yet I thought the pacing was well done and I was never bored. Maybe the only real message here is about the human need to reach out and make connections with one another, and how those needs have no moral prerequisites. Even a murderer needs friends, and even good people can be friends with bad people. It's a comment on the strange, random world we live in. A good film; worth seeing.

You got to love Brosnan when he's in form like this, brilliant performance in not equally brilliant movie

[johnny-08 · 7/10 · 7 July 2008]

Two years ago I watched "The Matador" in cinema and I loved everything about this movie. Obviously, I was totally under impression of Pierce Brosan's magnificent role. Yesterday, I caught this movie again on TV so I looked at it a bit deeper. Now, I can say with certain that this movie isn't that special but you just gotta' love it because of one man.

Brosnan lifts its grade up in my opinion with amazing performance of Julian Noble, tired hit-man who has no friends. Soon Julian meets Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) in Mexico City, man who's got bad luck: his son died in accident, his job isn't going that well and he's not sure that he can keep his wife Bean (Hope Davis).

I always liked movies like this; crime movie with big touch of humor. Mostly that humor comes from Brosnan as he tells jokes about dwarfs with big d.... or one of my favorite lines in this movie: "I look like a Bangkok hooker on a Sunday morning, after the navy's left town." Brosnan says it with his charm while he's drinking his margarita as usually. I also like Greg 'typical American face' Kinnear in the role of loser that is very lively made because there are plenty of people like Danny Wright.

So I recommend you to watch quite possibly the best role of Brosnan ever. He'll make you smile and admire him at the same time. Great Brosnan in not equally great movie.

Corporate Gigs Got You Down?

[tccandler · 9/10 · 24 January 2006]

"Margaritas and Cock..."

This tremendously entertaining film grabs you from the opening scene and never stops delivering laughs, surprises and unexpectedly touching moments. I had more fun watching "The Matador" than almost any other film from 2005. It is a wacky film with an unforgettable character, played to perfection by Pierce Brosnan.

Julian Noble (Brosnan) is a facilitator (hit-man) who specializes in high-end corporate gigs (assassinating rich dudes). He is also experiencing something akin to a mid-life crisis. After coming to realization that he has no real friends, no permanent home and no planned future, he stumbles into a Mexican hotel bar one night and runs into Danny Wright (Kinnear).

Danny is a down-on-his-luck family man who is on the verge of losing the big business deal that just might turn things around for him. He loves his wife dearly, especially so since they lost their young son a few years earlier.

The two men are chalk and cheese, hardly any common ground other than that they are in the same desolate bar one night. And somehow a conversation is struck that sets in to motion a chain of events that will change their lives forever.

The friendship they form reminded me a lot of Laurel and Hardy. One is the straight man and the other is the persistent fool who gets them into trouble. The interplay is superbly timed and finely tuned, due in no small part to the wonderful performances from Brosnan and Kinnear.

But make no mistake... This is Brosnan's film. He imprints one of the most memorable and despicably likable characters of the decade. He could shoot your mother and apologize immediately thereafter and you'd probably forgive him. Brosnan may be cinema's ultimate charmer, but this is his most endearing and complete performance to date. I wouldn't be averse to seeing an Oscar nod for this role.

Consider one scene where he overtly ogles a high-school girl with the impurest of thoughts and utters the line, "All blushy blushy... No sucky fucky". He does it with the familiar Bond smirk and manages to get away with it. He manages to tell a young boy, "Tell your mother to lose 30lbs and 20 years. Then get back to me" without coming across as unlikable. In fact, it makes us like him even more.

And yet the film manages to surprise us with some truly touching scenes, most of which come toward the end when the film takes some unpredictable turns. However, when Julian thumbs through his little black book to find someone to call on his birthday, or when Danny and his wife (Davis) console each other in their bedroom one night, the film reaches an unexpected depth of emotion.

"The Matador" is stylish and energetic. It is constantly entertaining. And it contains a career-defining role for Brosnan as the lonely hit-man looking for normalcy, friendship and a means to do at least one good thing in his life. This is an overlooked gem in 2005 and you should make an effort to see this film as soon as possible.

TC Candler of IndependentCritics.com

The Tailor of Panama-lite

[cliveowensucks · 6/10 · 26 December 2005]

First off, this IS a fun film and Brosnan IS entertaining in it. But at the end of the day, it's not an especially good one or even that memorable. In fact, it's every other hit-man with crisis of conscience movie ever made with a splash of LOST IN TRANSLATION liven up with a much louder and larger version of Brosnan's much better character and much better performance in THE TAILOR OF PANAMA. You'll recognise the ticks and tricks, like the way he overemphasises a woman's name or overdoes the seediness to show he's the anti-Bond here. And that's ultimately why the film seems so much less walking to the car than it does when you're watching the end credits. It's Brosnan doing his party piece again, which is fun but familiar. Of the two, I'd go for PANAMA every time, because that has more going for it. But this is a pleasant enough diversion that almost gives showing off a good name.

The Matador, Truly awful

[markscarratt · 1/10 · 21 March 2006]

This film was truly awful. I don't know if it was meant to be funny but it wasn't. In fact I don't know what it was supposed to be. Early in the film we see Pierce Brosnan's character about to leave a hotel room having obviously spent the night with a lovely lady. She is asleep in bed whilst he is getting dressed. Before he leaves he decides to steal her nail polish and then goes to the bathroom to paint his toe nails. Why ??.We never see that girl again nor the toe nails and I don't really see the point.

Also throughout the film Brosnan hints at his characters supposed homosexuality and perverse sexual tastes, but nowhere does this get progressed in the film, and I was left thinking "why" "what" "where", and "when".

It is obvious that he is a hit-man/ assassin in decline but do you really expect that he would tell Kinnears character what his job was within 5 minutes of meeting him in a bar in Mexico.

To make matters worse they then both go to a bullfight and Brosnann decides to show Kinnear a few tricks of the trade by pretending to stalk and nearly assassinate an unknown local while he was on the toilet. In the process of doing this Brosnan drew attention to himself that any assassin no matter how washed up, would not do.

In summary this film was truly terrible and I don't see the point of it at all. I am not sure what it was supposed to be.

Save your money and watch something else

Really worthy film

[BARBARA_FIXX · 9/10 · 10 December 2005]

This film is fantastic. Finally well-written characters you can love for all their good and bad. Pierce Brosnan is flat-out hysterical in this self-effacing role. I think its the best thing he's ever done. He's done other roles that exhibited shades of being capable of this kind of fully-fledged work, but this role finally gave him the room to run with it. I almost died when he walked across the hotel lobby in his underwear and boots. And Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis are a couple to aspire too, as well as actors to aspire too. Kinnear is so goofy likable that his turn in the end is truly gratifying. You give good actors good work to play with and they give us something more back.

Pierce Brosnan's best performance ever!

[grafimaxrd · 7/10 · 26 July 2006]

To those who don't speak Spanish, "matador" means 'killer' in English. That's what the movie is about, Pierce Brosnan is a matador (hit man) that is on his way down, a lonely guy with no manners. He meets Greg Kinnear (Danny) the everyday, married, standard guy and somehow they get involved, i guess because each one has something the other lacks. Danny needs excitement and Julian needs a friend.

This movie really surprised me, i wasn't expecting so much to tell the truth. It is smart, funny and different, it has a taste to dark humor that is very good. The cinematography is great, the performances in general are good, but the surprise of the night is Pierce Brosnan, in his character (Julian Noble) that steals the show. Who would have thought that the 007 could be so funny? this part is perfect for him, you totally believe this character, it is his best work so far, waaaay better than his clichéd image of the attractive gentleman. It is a good movie, very enjoyable. The chemistry between Brosnan and Greg Kinnear is very good also, although Greg has been better in other parts like when he played the gay neighbor of Jack Nicholson in "as good as it gets"(a very good film also). The Matador is fresh and original, enjoy it.

Entertaining crime comedy with Pierce Brosnan in a very successful comic turn

[Camera-Obscura · 15 November 2006]

Pierce Brosnan has sipped his last Martini and returns, in an outrageous self-parody, as the aging foul-mouthed boozy assassin Julian Noble, who has a particular fondness for teenage girls, bullfights and tacky clothes. During a job in Mexico City he meets Danny (Greg Kinnear), a straight-faced Denver suburban business-man, who's in town to make his deal of-a-life-time, in a hotel bar. Despite their completely different personalities and Julian's crude and insensible remarks, they become friends.

Largely carried by the performances of Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, director Richard Shepard revealed that he didn't write the film with Pierce Brosnan in mind , but I can hardly imagine this without him. He proves to have a real talent for comedy and can be more than just James Bond or cold-war spies. The scene in which the two meet at a glossy hotel bar (stunning sets and beautifully photographed) really is a bravura piece of acting skills. The scene lasts almost fifteen minutes, and although it was probably carefully scripted, the two actors are largely improvising, but they succeed wonderfully! It almost feels like a new standard in screen acting. Think of Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel in MEAN STEETS improvising and add one of the most subtle underpinnings of many genre clichés and the actors' own typecasting (Brosnan's James Bond in particular), and you got one of the most delightful pairings in recent Hollywood.

Sadly, the story wears thin after a while. After an hour, the film just runs out of steam. Nevertheless, and I can't put my finger on it exactly, I did enjoy this very much. It just feels very fresh and original, with some imaginative use of sets and lighting, and some hints to Seijun Suzuki and Jean-Pierre Melville. The other characters aren't given much to do, but this film does offer something new, in that respect it almost effortlessly succeeds in blending all conventional genres into quite an entertaining spoof. Very amusing.

Camera Obscura --- 7/10

A pleasant surprise

[peter-ramshaw-1 · 7/10 · 14 January 2007]

PIERCE 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.

Stars off with a bang, goes out with a thud

[Tecun_Uman · 6/10 · 2 February 2006]

I 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.

Fast moving, well-acted drama with some good twists

[cinemel1 · 7/10 · 14 December 2005]

Pierce Brosnan (Julian Noble) and Greg Kinnear (Danny Wright) meet at a bar in Mexico City. Julian is a hit man and Danny is trying to drum up business with his partner. These men have reached turning points in their lives. Their unusual relationship is both comic and touching. Richard Shepard has directed and written this tale so that the viewer actually begins to sympathize with Julian even though he is nothing more than a murderer for hire. Danny seems to be an upright honest citizen unwilling to abet his new acquaintance in one of his nefarious projects. Brosnan has just been nominated for a Best Acting Golden Globe in the Comedy/Musical category. Hope Davis co-stars as Danny's wife. Here is another underrated, underused actress. Here she gives a surprising interesting performance in a script that has several surprising twists and turns. Sit back and enjoy.

Just okay

[Ethabell · 6/10 · 30 December 2005]

Just an okay screenplay. I was not moved by the slow moving script but thought the lead actors did a fine job. Brosnan was a real surprise, so good to see him out of his James Bond body and his comedic acting is well done.

But back to the script...I think there was potential in the concept but somehow it lay flat in the final story. Perhaps it is in comparison with some of the very good to great films out right now that it just did not cut it in my opinion. I have liked Greg Kinnear in most roles and this one suited him. Hope Davis is a favorite of mine so I give her nothing but high marks. Too bad she had a relatively small part in the movie. They certainly could have magnified her role for funnier results. The film is short, I wonder what they cut out of it; it may have been the really good stuff.

All sass and no blood; movie shows Pierce Brosnan's comedic flair

[btyson-1 · 9/10 · 16 November 2005]

"The Matador" stars Pierce Brosnan as a burned out assassin. He's James Bond gone to seed, in too-tight, garish clothes, gold chains, and an ugly haircut. Our struggling assassin, Julian Noble, is in Mexico, trying to regain his nerve. Staying at the same hotel is a likable, down-on-his luck businessman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), also trying to regain his equilibrium. Danny is desperate to close a deal and return to his wife in Denver (Hope Davis) with good news.

Noble and Wright unexpectedly become friends. Wright convinces Noble to reveal certain techniques, which he demonstrates at a bullfight. Noble is eventually targeted by his employers and shows up in Denver.

Writer and director Richard Shepard did the Q&A after this delightful movie at the Austin Film Festival. Shepard was also down on his luck. After suffering the loss of his agent and rejection of recent scripts, he decided to write a story no one would buy and create a character no one would want to play. Then Pierce Brosnan called. Brosnan regains his equilibrium in this movie. (There is life after Bond!) He has a wonderful flair for self-deprecating comedy. Don't miss it.

Stay for the closing credits to read what the filmmakers say about bullfighting. I look forward to more of Richard Shepard's projects.

Buddy comedy with irreverent and self-serious trimmings...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 6 August 2006]

Burnt-out professional hit-man Pierce Brosnan travels around the globe snuffing out his targets, but he may be feeling at the end of his rope; in Mexico City, Brosnan strikes up a friendship (his only one) with struggling American businessman Greg Kinnear and involves the mild-mannered man in his life. "The Matador" (the title a metaphor for the hit-man's precarious existence) appears to be the usual buddy-formula business, but it does offer a few canny surprises. Production and handling are exceptionally clever, though the central friendship isn't terribly convincing--nor is the elongated finale. The more somber undercurrents of the script border on the pretentious, though Brosnan and Kinnear give equally strong performances. The movie leaves you pondering the characters and their lives, yet doesn't satisfy with substantial answers. That flightiness may be deliberate, but it doesn't leave the viewer with a strong affection for the film's sassy, shallow execution. **1/2 from ****

Waste of Time and Money

[jkmcroot · 2/10 · 4 February 2006]

When my wife and I entered the theater, we realized this movie was playing on the smallest screen with the smallest audience... Now we know why. There were five other couples in the showing on a Friday night. This movie was awful. We were caught in that unfortunate middle ground where you paid your $8.50 so feel you should stick it out to see if things get better, but they don't. This is the first movie in a long, long time where we both looked at our watches to estimate how much time could be left, and we see a LOT of movies.

Both of us think Brosnan is good and, based on some of his other recent works (i.e. After The Sunrise), thought it would be another "fun" movie with him in a relaxed role. Enter Greg Kineer... once again, you become hopeful, but the character makeup of the film changes immediately and you realize it's not what you came for.

There is no character development. Others can review it and say "wow! what a great collection of dark humor and complex characters" but that's crap. Those are excuses for a very poor storyline and weak development, unfortunately played by actors who are capable of much more. They both do a good job of playing the characters on the script. Problem is, there is no substance. While a few moments are funny, they are fleeting moments. There is very little history behind the characters, and even with a plot of emotional loss in Kineer's family laid out, the audience doesn't feel so much as a pang of teary eye about it.

Poor, weak movie. I score 2 out of 10. This doesn't even rate as a rental, and I would have pulled it out before it finished if we were at home. Don't waste your time or your money.

Funny

[pmtelefon · 8/10 · 28 May 2020]

There are a lot of laughs in "The Matador". Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear make a very good team. Their interaction is a lot of fun to watch. The movie has quite a few laugh-out-loud moments. The story moves well with only a couple of bumps in the road. "The Matador" seems like the kind of movie that improves with more viewings. That's why I plan on watching again real soon.

Tedious, unmoving, phony-- I couldn't wait for it to end!

[wapakununk · 1/10 · 28 January 2006]

After being hugely entertained by Mr. Brosnan's performance as a cad in "The Tailor of Panama" (which I rate 10/10 across the board: casting, acting, script, story, editing, pace, music, emotional impact, etc.), I enthusiastically anticipated this film. I was hugely disappointed. It is a script reading not a film, vulgar for the sake of being vulgar, bankrupt in every way that "The Tailor of Panama" is rich and satisfying. Blame it on the screen writing and directing. I sat in the theater waiting for the "good part;" it never came. I neither laughed nor cried, although one line of dialog did make me smile. Worth $7? Hardly.

One Kiss, One Bang

[tedg · 10 November 2006]

Now 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.

Starts off strong and then. . .

[bburns · 6/10 · 24 March 2006]

In the 1990's, I wrote short stories as a hobby. Admittedly, I wasn't very good at it. Rather than using the discipline of outlining the plot, then writing 3-5 drafts, I would just make the story up as I typed and then clean up the grammar afterward. My stories would start off with a very strong concept, but by the second or third page, I would run out of inspiration, and so I would write aimlessly, filling the story with pointless dialog and stream-of-consciousness until I figured out what was going to happen next.

When I saw "The Matador" recently, it was like a flashback to those times. It starts out really strong. Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear--mediocre in most of their film appearances--give the best performances of their respective careers. And the writing in the first act is top-notch. In the first act, world-weary hit man Julian (Brosnan) and mild-mannered businessman Danny (Kinnear) meet in the bar of the hotel they are both staying at in Mexico City. They quickly form a bond (no pun intended) because they are both in town on business, both burned out in their careers and both in danger of losing their jobs. The next day, they go to a bullfight together, where Julian reveals his trade and exactly how he pulls it off without getting caught. Danny is excited at first, but ultimately finds it morally repellent. And so they go their separate ways.

Then we see a title "Six months later. . ." and the movie comes to a screeching halt. Julian barges into Danny's house uninvited (on Christmas Eve, no less) and lots of pointless, meandering dialog ensues. Nothing from this point on works. Hope Davis as Danny's wife isn't given much to do except to echo what Greg Kinnear did in the first act, only not as well. And Kinnear wears a ridiculous fake mustache for the remainder of the film. As I was watching the second act, I was transported back to my own futile attempts at writing fiction. From my own experience, I could well imagine writer-director Richard Shepard typing this aimless dialog on his PC and thinking to himself "How the hell am I supposed to finish this? Should I even try, or should I just give up?" Eventually, though, Shepard does come up with a third act. Unfortunately, it comes off like a cheap imitation of "The Whole Nine Yards". And the things that made the first act so interesting (i.e. the unanswered questions about what exactly Danny does for a living, why do these two guys bond so readily, and what about the dead son) are brushed aside for a pat ending.

My short stories are not published in any book or magazine or on any website. And with good reason. After about 6 years of never improving despite constant practice, I came to realize that I am not a short story writer. I do not say that Richard Shepard should not have written "The Matador". However I think it was a mistake for him to film it before it was finished. I believe he should have put the script aside after finishing the first act and worked on something else for awhile. After the something else was done he should either have figured out how to improve acts 2 & 3 or tossed out the script altogether. As the film stands, it comes off as only semi-complete and the work of someone who had a great fit of inspiration, and then suddenly lost it. 6 out of 10.