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No me llamo Bond
Pierce Brosnan shows there's life after Bond in The Matador, a kind of Tarantino Lite buddy-dramedy about a hitman and a businessman who fall on hard times at different times. The plot twists and turns, becoming unbelievable until, Tarantino-like, writer-director Richard Shepard doubles back to fill in some blanks to put things in a different perspective. Julian Noble (Brosnan) is a "facilitator," hired by people hired by corporations to eliminate the competition. He travels the world, has no place to call home, drinks too much and enjoys the company of beautiful —and much younger—women. His age is beginning to catch up with him and you'd think he could afford to retire, but his "handler" (Philip Baker Hall) is able to keep him in line with, "You take a break, we go with a younger, cheaper kid." Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) is a businessman—what business doesn't matter—who has yet to recover from being laid off two and a half years ago. He's been married 14 years to his high school sweetheart, "Bean" (Hope Davis), but their only child died in an accident three years ago, the start of Danny's run of bad luck. They don't meet on the flight from Denver—Julian's in first class— but they do in the hotel bar in Mexico City. Danny's anxiously awaiting the results of a pitch that may get him back in the game while Julian's drunk enough to uncharacteristically reach out to another person. It's not a gay pickup but Julian says a lot of things that make him sound at least bisexual. The next day, at Julian's insistence, they attend a bullfight together. (The movie makes a point of not showing animals or humans being killed, even though that's what it's about, and spends a lot of time alluding to "respect" and "honor" in activities that seem divorced from both.) There, in an amazing sequence, Julian gives Danny an introduction to what he does and how he does it. Six months later, Julian surprises Danny and Bean at home and they catch up on old times, but with some blanks to be filled in later. It seems Julian finally has a chance to retire but he's in a kill-or-be-killed situation and he'll need help from Danny, "the only friend I have." At this point, if not earlier, The Matador turns into an edgier, more serious version of The In-Laws. Filmmaker Shepard is never as hardcore as Tarantino. There's some marshmallow at the core of The Matador but it's not necessarily a bad thing; the film has flavors you won't find in s'mores. Steve Warren is a local actor and film reviewer. His reviews can also be seen weekly in the Sunday Paper. |
The Matador
Directed by: Richard Shepard 
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