TotalTelly.co.uk

Devoted to Popular, Cult and Retro TV

The Matador [2005]


RRP: £17.99
Our Price: £4.12 (subject to change)

Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

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


A facilitator of fatalities meets a nice guy in a fine, funny and potty-mouthed black comedy
Review date: 2008-10-13 Rating: 8 out of 10

Even assassins can have a crisis of conscience, and this smart black comedy of rifle shots and mercenary murder gives us the ten-step program. What makes The Matador interesting is that the movie isn't about rehabilitation, but friendship.

Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan) is an assassin, or as he prefers to put it, "I facilitate fatalities." Unfortunately for Noble, he's seen better days, physically and professionally. Anxiety attacks sometimes spoil his aim. Age and the appearance of being a ticking time bomb leave him with no friends, no home and only sex and booze as consolation. Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), on the other hand, even though he's lost his job, has a solid, mutually-loving relationship with his wife, the childhood sweetheart he calls Bean (Hope Davis). Danny is a decent, honorable good guy. The two are going to meet in Mexico City in a sleek hotel bar. Danny has just made a pitch for a desperately needed business contract. Julian, with a bullet from a high-powered rifle, has just splattered the head of a woman his handler, Mr. Randy (Philip Baker Hall), assigned him to take out. Noble is so inappropriately smart-mouth Danny nearly walks away, but he is so needy that he gets Danny to go with him to a bullfight. And there, Julian sort of surprises himself by telling Danny he's an assass...facilitator of fatalities. In a great and funny set piece, Julian shows him just how it can be done by picking someone at random who happens to have body guards. Then he asks Danny for help. Danny flees back home.

Months later, Danny and Bean in their Denver home hear a knock on their door late at night. It's Julian. He's screwed up once too often. The guys who hire him are after him. He confesses Danny is his only friend. Bean is fascinated. Danny is wary...but Danny is a good guy. After a night of getting-to-know-you-better, the next morning Danny and Julian are off to Phoenix for Julian's last assignment. Will they stay friends? Who knows? But as Julian tells Danny, "Just consider me the best cocktail party story you ever met."

The movie needs to be seen to appreciate the skillful, straight-faced approach to murder this comedy provides. There are no particular moral condemnations of Julian, just a kind of concerned response by Danny and Bean to his falling-apart neediness. The black comedy arises from the situation, but the fascination arises from the friendship that develops between these two men, the amoral Julian prone to anxiety attacks and the decent Danny. Pierce Brosnan gives one of the best performances of his career. If you weren't as decent as Danny, you'd never want Brosnan's Julian anywhere near you. He's no smooth James Bond here, just an inappropriately wisecracking assassin who appreciates sex in all its fine variety. Greg Kinnear has the tough job of balancing Danny's niceness with Brosnan's showy turn. He does it. It's Kinnear who makes The Matador such a weird and fine buddy movie.

Brosnan, for me, usually in his hero roles comes across as smug. As Julian Noble, Brosnan let's his usual veneer of charm and competence develop cracks. Brosnan knows what he's doing. I think he was just about as excellent in Evelyn and The Tailor of Panama. To see him in sympathetic lead hero mode before the heroic smugness set in, watch him in the TV movie Murder 101. Although Philip Baker Hall has a small role that could have been played by any competent actor, he makes a nice impression because we've liked him so much in other movies. To see just how extraordinary he was as an actor, check out his tour de force performance as Richard Nixon in Robert Altman's one-actor movie, Secret Honor. Hall looks nothing like Nixon, but there is absolutely no doubt who the character is, deep in the scotch and the self-pity, that we're watching. One word of warning for the family trade: The Matador has some of the funniest, most vivid and most obscene lines of dialogue I've heard in a long time.

Similar Products

Reviews


The best hit man film since Grosse Point Blank!
Review date: 2008-08-18 Rating: 10 out of 10

This is an excellent exposition of the hit man genre. Pierce Brosnan joyfully rips his Bond image to shreds as sleazy messed up hitman Julian, the only commonality with Bond is an occasional view down a sniper's rifle.His life coincides with Danny(an excellent Greg Kinnear) an all round American nice guy in Mexico City on business. Julian realises the emptiness of his sniper's life and befriends Danny in a Mexican bar. The two become friends against the throbbing Latino backdrop of this fascinating city.Danny and wife(an excellent Hope davis) are reeling from bad luck after the death of their son Henry. the two spend a few days together in Mexico City. The second act occurs 6 months later in snowy Denver. Julian pitches up to Danny's house. He has botched 2 jobs due to an exhaustion fuelled breakdown and now is being hunted.The 3 of them share a night of drunkeness and Julian asks Danny to help him on one last hit job to save his life. they fly to Tucson, Arizona to a date with destiny...
this is an original excellent film, American but with an independent heart just like Martin Blank! It is amazing to see how Julian helps the nervous Danny who 6 months later helps him, The music is excellent, the jam' The Killers and erm Besame mucho. an excellent film with Brosnan cast against type (and fortunately doesn't sing if I hear right about Mame Mia!)

"There's no retirement home for assassins is there?"
Review date: 2008-08-13 Rating: 6 out of 10

There's a reason that Pierce Brosnan was picked for the role as the burnt out hitman, Julian. The differences between Bond and Julian - two men with similar interests, and in many ways similar lives - add to the black humour of this slow, but poignant film.

The film would seem overly boring and hold little interest if it weren't for the relationship between Julian and business man Danny Wright. The odd couple have a hint of "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" about them, as the events that define their time together seems madcap, but there's a sadness to Danny's life which drives him and his wife. Danny is the character you identify with most, and Julian brings in the humour.

Julian manages to offend Danny on so many occasions, his inappropriate behaviour is always followed up with a desperate apology as he fears losing the only person he is able to talk to, be himself with ...his only friend.

This isn't a particularly funny film, and it does often drag. The story of a hitman who feels overworked after 22 years of loyal service makes for a half decent story, but it isn't until the final scene of the film that you appreciate the actual human aspect to the characters.


Piercing Brosnan
Review date: 2008-06-25 Rating: 8 out of 10

Embroidering (and then some) on his sleaze-ball pervert in The Tailor of Panama, Brosnan gives an outstanding comic turn as Julian Noble, a going-to-seed hitman looking for an alternative to drinking, shagging and killing for a living. He discovers dull but endearing, Danny (a superb Greg Kinnear holding down a perfect melody to brosnan's soaring harmonies) and is increasingly drawn to the attractions of a 'normal' life.

Plot-wise there's little to get worked up about - but that's because the plot is a distant second to a bravura character study and an outrageous narrative. (The scene where Brosnan is 'servicing' a lady in Vienna whilst coping with the distractions of a toy dog still has me laughing)

The whole is a very likeable, flies-past comedy thriller which takes some clever risks of levity and depth. But it's Brosnan's wonderful career-best performance that makes this a very fine piece of entertainment indeed.

Rubbish
Review date: 2008-04-21 Rating: 2 out of 10

I have just suffered through this utter pants film with my friend.
We had to watch it as we were in an area of bad TV reception and only had one channel.
It was truly awful.
The script read as though it had been written by a middle aged man who wears trainers with his suit, it was truly embarrasing. How Pierce could bring himself to say some of the lines without cringeing I really don't know. Mind you, his performance was utterly dreadful. We never figured out where he was supposed to be 'from' but his accent drifted wildly from London to Australia, passing through Dublin, New York, L.A, New Delhi and Cardiff on the way.
I actually turned to my friend 3/4 of the way through and asked him what the point of the entire film was.....it seems to be completely devoid of plot.

All in all, this film is best left where it belongs..........filling up bargain bins throughout the world.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Philip Baker Hall
Hope Davis
Pierce Brosnan
Dylan Baker
Greg Kinnear

Creators:
Pierce Brosnan (Primary Contributor)
Greg Kinnear (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
EAN: 8717418083281
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2006-07-10
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 96 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2005
Language: English (Original Language)

Add to Cart

© 2006 Darren Hester, DesignsByDarren.com, Some Rights Reserved.
Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional