Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Arlin Miller, Azucena Medina, Jonah Meyerson, Wiveca Bonerais Directed By: Richard Shepard Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: HD DVD Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Widescreen Label: The Weinstein Company Home Entertainment Number of Items: 1 Release Date: December 19, 2006 Running Time: 97 minutes Theatrical Release Date: January 27, 2006
Product Description: Equal parts buddy movie and black comedy The Matador is one of those tidy indie films that is both mildly heartwarming and subtly offensive. In a conscious effort to shed his smooth image as James Bond Pierce Brosnan shines or rather slimes as end of the road hitman Julian Noble while Greg Kinnear applies his requisite charm to the role of Danny Wright the whitebread Denver businessman with a mischievous streak. The two men cross paths in a very kitschy Mexico City amidst the neon lights salty margaritas and chihuahuas and spark up a sometimes touching friendship. The tone of the film is woefully uneven as the crass jokes and quickie sex scenes fail to maintain a balance with the more saccharine moments such as the image of a couple at the grave site of their young son set against an inappropriate soundtrack of blaring pop music. That being said it is a delight to view the former 007 in a new light; with a 5 o'clock shadow donning a gold chain and fake tattoos visibly lusting after a margarita in the same way he ogled a prostitute's bare bottom only a few hours earlier. The supporting cast is also stellar although shamefully underused.System Requirements:Run Time: 93 minsFormat: DVD HD Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: R UPC: 796019797078 Manufacturer No: 79707
Amazon.com: Pierce Brosnan gives one of his finest performances in The Matador, a low-key buddy comedy with an agreeably sinister twist. Light-years from his former James Bond image, Brosnan is unshaven, unnerved and unpredictable as freelance assassin Julian Noble, who encounters desperate businessman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) in the bar of a modern Mexico City hotel. Danny is intrigued when Julian reveals that he's a "facilitator of fatalities," and his wife "Bean" (Hope Davis) is equally fascinated when Julian shows up unexpectedly, six months later, at Danny's home in Denver. Having lost his touch as a reliable hit-man, Julian needs Danny's help with "one last job," but the logistics of Julian's lethal profession (involving an employer played by Philip Baker Hall) are secondary to writer-director Richard Shepard's offbeat, slightly uneven character study, which gives Kinnear and Brosnan a memorable opportunity to riff on their established screen personas. In making Julian a likable yet tormented drifter who's made a habit of "running from any emotion," Brosnan creates an edgy yet sympathetic character as mysterious as he is fun to be around; if you're going to befriend a hired killer, you could do far worse than a guy like Julian. As Brosnan plays him, he's worthy of a sequel, but The Matador is the kind of entertainingly quirky movie that's a hard act to follow. --Jeff Shannon
Underappreciated actors show their range This film can't be categorized and that's a good thing. The tone of the movie stands on the line between parady/satire and drama. Of course the subject of murder is serious and we shouldn't take it lightly. Brosnan plays a hit man who starts to feel remorse and longs for human connection. Kinnear plays a 'normal' businessman with real life worries and a life that Brosnan's character is drawn to. The question is, who will pulled into whose life. Much of the film covers both characters everday life events so we know a lot of who the are and what they do. In spite of the subject matter it isn't a flashy movie but much is done with subtlety. This movie deserved much more praise and exposure than what it got. Hopefully many have found it on dvd.
Pierce Brosnan steals this show. Brosnan plays a creepy yet wierdly amusing aging hitman. He runs into a struggling middle class businessman played by Greg Kinear in a Mexico City hotel bar and begins to wreak havoc in his life. All in all they make a pretty entertaining pairing and the film works as a light off-beat comedy.
Brosnan really is different from all the polished James Bondish characters he has portrayed. He comes across as slightly deranged, disheviled and just a bit sleazy,yet likeable.
Worth checking out.
Oscar & Felix play dangerous games... The best thing by far in this flick is Brosnan's performance. He's brilliant, Michael Caine in Tom Selleck's somewhat over-the-hill body. This could have been a Jack Lemmon + Walter Matthau outing & in fact resembles Buddy Buddy in some plot points. The plot gets icky & sentimental which is too bad but kind of predictable with cute & likable Kinnear as co-star. Like his tour-de-force performance in Tailor of Panama, Pierce Brosnan can give you the full measure of a very true & complex human being. I hope he finds more anti-hero parts like this. Maybe in a just world he will be awarded the Oscar he so fully deserves.
A touching story of hope and friendship A salesman and a hitman meet in a bar in Mexico City. What results is a touching tale of hope and friendship between two people who couldn't be more different. Well, sort of. Actually, "The Matador" is a really entertaining and hilarious film.
Pierce Brosnan, who seems to be favouring character roles now that he is getting too old to play heroes, plays Julian Noble, a burnt out hitman who happens to meet Greg Kinnear's struggling salesman while on a job in Mexico. As Noble, Brosnan is over the top and hilarious to watch. He's hyperactive, in your face and not in the least bit apologetic for it. Kinnear arguably has the harder role of the two, as his character is essentially just there to witness the actions of Noble, and yet he manages to make his character believable and more than just a spectator.
The plot of this film is nothing new, you could argue that it is just "The Odd Couple" with sex and violence. Yet, it is well done, and although not the most memorable of films, watching it did provide me with a good evening's entertainment.
Hilarious! I thought this movie was just hilarious the first time I saw it. Pierce Brosnan shines and shows that he is more than just 007. He was hilarious as the sleazy assassin going thru a midlife crisis.
I recommend this movie to just about any adult that likes good slighty naughty humor.
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