Barnes & Noble

If this compact black comedy didn’t create the commercial stir it should have, lay the blame on Pierce Brosnan’s courage. The character he plays in The Matador is a far stretch from James Bond, the suave superspy his fans identify him with. Here Brosnan is Julian Noble, a world-weary, cynical hit man who follows each job with prolonged bouts of drinking and womanizing. While on assignment in Mexico City, he meets Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear), a glum businessman who hopes his prolonged bad-luck streak will end with the acquisition of a large new account. Removing a competitor would ensure that Danny gets the business, but he just can’t bring himself to hire Julian. Writer-director Richard Shepard manages to exploit every iota of comedic potential in his odd-couple scenario, focusing on the unlikely attraction between the irrepressible, uncontrollable Julian and the drab, responsible Danny. Brosnan is a revelation as the assassin; he portrays Noble as seemingly unrestrained yet, at bottom, emotionally repressed by the grim requirements of his chosen profession. Brosnan’s detailed performance brings considerable empathy to an outwardly repellent character. Kinnear adds similar dimension to Danny, a sad sack who ultimately emerges as a man of substance. Shepard gambles that his viewers will follow the rather convoluted sequence of events he proffers, particularly during the film’s ambiguous middle section. But he has good reason to withhold key bits of information, and attentive viewers will be satisfied by the ingenuity with which he wraps up a genuinely intriguing work; one that seems to telegraph its intentions early on yet ultimately confounds audience expectations by shrewd plot manipulation. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

A chance meeting between two middle-aged men leads one into a life of crime in this offbeat comedy. Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) is an American businessman whose life has been going through a sour patch after he and his wife, Carolyn (Hope Davis), lost their young son. During a business trip to Mexico City, Danny strikes up a conversation in a hotel bar with fellow out-of-towner Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan), and while Julian's loud and brassy manner initially puts Danny off, in time the two become friends, and Julian feels comfortable enough with Danny to tell him what he does for a living. It seems Julian is a hired killer working under the auspices of underworld kingpins Lovell (Dylan Baker) and Mr. Randy (Philip Baker Hall), and Julian tries to persuade Danny to help him with his latest assignment. Danny refuses, but a few months later a distraught Julian appears unannounced on Danny's doorstep. It seems Julian has blown his two most recent assignments due to a variety of psychosomatic illnesses, and now Lovell and Mr. Randy want him dead. Julian has also done something to put Danny in his debt, and the previously non-criminal businessman is forced to help his friend stage a hit, with Julian's presence in his home upsetting the precarious balance of Danny and Carolyn's marriage. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 796019791595
• Source: WEINSTEIN COMPANY
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Cinemascope (2.35:1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Español
• Time: 1:37:00
• Sales Rank: 16,467

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