THE MATADOR (DVD)

Director: Richard Shepard (a few low-budget films, TV work)
Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis

One of the joys of cinema is surprise. The best surprises are when you see a work that heralds new talent, like seeing Pulp Fiction or Scorsese for the first time. The Matador was a surprise to me, although certainly not in the same way as Pulp Fiction. Knowing that this story was about a hitman and starred Pierce Brosnan, I was half-expecting yet another suave character along the lines of his James Bond, or Thomas Crowne. Even his wonderfully dirty spy in The Tailor of Panama had a sheeny veneer of class. Conversely, from the trailers I'd seen on The Matador I was expecting a comedy. The sad, lonely character that actually lived in this film was partly both, and party neither. It was a surprise to me, and in a good way. This was Brosnan's best performance to date.

The story briefly follows a hitman (Brosnan), lonely and drunk most of the time, as he starts up a friendship with Greg Kinnear's run-of-the-mill salesman traveling on business to Mexico City. Brosnan admits what he is to someone else for the first time, and Kinnear gets the best cocktail party anecdote of his life as he pals around with an assassin for a few days.

Oh, off course they meet again. Soon enough, Brosnan's character completely collapses emotionally, and is unable to continue killing people. In fact he finds himself targeted for death. He runs off to Kinnear, as his only friend, and they try to rectify the situation.

From beginning to end this film had an odd (and in this case I mean unique) tone. It certainly had an aura of standard spy fare, especially with Brosnan playing the lead. The story was never what you'd call "deep", neither in plot, nor even in character. There are a few killings and a fair amount of debauchery. But the sad, lonely, foolish drunk of a character that Brosnan created remains interesting through it all. He may not be deeply written, but he is deeply evoked by the actor. The film is at times quite funny, but most often it seems regretful. Given the choice there's no doubt Brosnan's character would not live the same life again.

This was not a great film. It was a good one, however. Best of all, at no time was this film what I expected, and that surprise is a good thing.

Standouts: Brosnan's character. He was the entirety of the story.
Blowouts: In my opinion the story didn't get the things outside of his character quite right (including Kinnear's and Davis' roles). A lot of things didn't quite ring true to me.
Grade: B