Review: The Matador

Posted by: Tom Milroy  •  December 30, 2005 @ 11:59am

Filed under: Reviews

Who needs 007? The Golden Globe-nominated Pierce Brosnan is perfect as the conflicted hitman Julian Noble in The Matador, written and directed by Richard Shepard. Greg Kinnear is Danny Wright, the conflicted businessman, and Hope Davis is "Bean", Danny's wife.

Julian and Danny meet at a bar in Mexico City. In time, Julian explains his profession as a "facilitator of fatalities". This is a clever movie with some serious moments and some really funny moments and I'm not sure, but it appears as if Julian Noble orders a drink in spanish and tells the bartender to make it "shaken not stirred" â€" the only nod to James Bond in the movie. Because Julian loses his nerve on an assingment, he finds himself on the "hit list", so he seeks out Danny, his only friend.

The music is tasty as well, with "It's Not Unusual" by Tom Jones, "Heat of the Moment" by Asia, and "All These Things That I've Done" by who else, The Killers.

To see Pierce Brosnan walking through a hotel lobby wearing jockey shorts and boots and nothing else while carrying a beer is worth the price of admission. If this is life after Bond, you have a lot of miles left Mr. Brosnan.

The role of Danny is also perfect for Greg Kinnear, who always looks like your next door neighbour. Check out The Matador â€" like me, you'll be bullish on it.