Directed by Richard Shepard. Starring Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Phillip Baker Hall. Comedy. Synopsis: A burned out hit man on the last legs of his career meets a businessman still grieving over a personal loss and business setback. They strike up an unusual partnership and end up helping each other.
The Matador is the kind of dark humor film that so many of us often prefer to slapstick comedy. It tells the story of a burned out hit man named Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) who has a chance meeting in a Mexico bar while on "assignment" with a Denver businessman named Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) who is south of the border trying to turn his business fortunes around by snaring a big client.
After a very interesting first couple of drinks, the two find themselves hanging out together in
The story then goes into the inevitable: Danny reluctantly helping Julian with his "last job". I'm not a huge Pierce Brosnan fan, but I've seen enough of him to appreciate what a very different role this is for him. Forgot the suave, debonair James Bond thing here, folks. Brosnan plays his character just like you might expect a big money hit man to be: gruff, profane, worldly, and coarse. Is he funny? Yes, he is, and I think that having an actor with the image of Brosnan in this role helps make it funny.
Greg Kinnear is the effective "straight man" for the film, and he is completely believable as a businessman trying to make his company go. Hope Davis was hilarious as Danny's supportive wife, the scene with the three of them in the living room is the funniest of the film, with
You'll also catch a small but important supporting role from Phillip Baker Hall in this one. He's one of those guys who is funniest when not playing a comedic role. The story is a little far fetched, of course, and on the surface you would wonder how we're supposed to buy the bond that develops between these two guys. But, they did a good job early in the film of showing just how alone Julian is, as he, after being reminded that it is his birthday, spends the evening in a drunken frame of mind as he desperately tries to call a friend to talk to...and realizes that he doesn't really have any. For a guy like that, meeting your new best buddy in a hotel bar over a couple of margaritas is entirely possible.
I think the biggest draw in this film is Brosnan. Fans of his will want to see him, no matter what, and take stock of him in such a different role. The film was o.k. as far as I was concerned. One of those flicks, in my opinion, that you are not sorry you rented/bought, but you wouldn't tell somebody that there is anything that they just have to see.
I'm real interested to hear what hard core Brosnan fans thought about it.
Leave a comment