The Matador film review

certificate_15

THE MATADOR

There's one reason to watch The Matador, and that reason is Pierce Brosnan. Eyebrows may have been raised when he received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance earlier this year, but judging by the evidence on screen, it was completely merited. If ever there was a way to remove the shackles of James Bond, then this is it.

In the film, which is at heart an old-fashioned light comedy, Brosnan plays Julian Noble, a hitman who has been on the road for so long that he now resides permanently in hotels, waiting for his next assignment from a mysterious organization fronted by Phillip Baker Hall. Killing random businessmen, politicians or terrorists has lost its lustre for Julian, and the beginning of the film sees him suffering from the onslaught of a mid-life crisis. But when Julian meets Danny (Greg Kinnear) in a hotel bar in Mexico City one night, his outlook on life begins to change. Danny is strait-laced, married and very, very conventional: the complete opposite of Julian. The two strike up an unlikely friendship and it's not long before Julian is offering Danny the chance to live like a hitman himself.

Julian takes Danny to a bullfight - an elongated sequence which gives the film its name - and shows him the tricks of his trade, from robbery to diversion to murder itself. Danny, excited but also very scared at this distinct change in lifestyle, panics and returns to the safety of his wife (Hope Davis), never to mention Mexico or see Julian again. Or so he hopes.

Brosnan's Julian is a wretch, but at the same time a loveable rogue. He really gives the world-weary assassin his all: from his variety of accents, his ability to tell the wrong joke at the wrong time, and his often manically out-of-control personality. A telling scene shows him phoning his best friends, who are all brothel-owners scattered around the world. By throwing himself so completely into the role, Brosnan not only shows that he is not afraid to take risks, but also displays a great sense of comic timing.