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The Matador
Movie Stats & Links |
| Starring: |
Pierce Brosnan,
Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis |
| MPAA Rated: |
R |
| Released By: |
The Weinstein Company |
| Kiddie Movie: |
Lots of sex,
nudity, and the movie's about an assassin. What do you
think? |
| Date Movie: |
Fun for both the
dudes and dudettes. |
| Gratuitous Sex: |
Quite a bit. |
| Gratuitous
Violence: |
We don't really
see people getting assassined, but we know it happens. |
| Action: |
Not much chasing
going on. |
| Laughs: |
Lots of them,
especially in the form of one-liners. |
| Memorable
Scene: |
Julian showing
Danny how the fact that everyone eventually has to pee,
which can be very beneficial to an assassin. |
| Memorable
Quote: |
Bean: "Do you
think he'd let me see his gun?" |
| Directed By: |
Richard Shepard |
| Produced By: |
Pierce Brosnan,
Beau St. Clair, Sean Furst, Bryan Furst |
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The Matador
A Movie Review |
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When Stu Gotz and I were discussing what movie to review
first for the debut of "Stu and The Dude Review the Movies
for You," it was a toss-up between
"Underworld: Evolution,"
or "The Matador." We opted for the vampire movie, and that
review will be coming soon, and I figured I’d end up just
waiting for the DVD of "The Matador" to come out to catch
it. Then The Dude on the Left called me in the morning and
asked if I was going to see a movie. I wasn’t planning on
it, figured I would spend the day tightening up the
animation for our upcoming movie review video podcast, but a
break from my computer screen seemed like a nice change, I
wasn’t in the mood for the epic "The New World," and
suggested "The Matador." The Dude on the Left really didn’t
care what movie we went to, especially since The Bears got
eliminated from the playoffs, he just wanted to get out of
the house. So, off we were, The Dude on the Left and I, off
to see "The Matador."
When I saw the trailer for "The Matador," I thought about
the news that Pierce Brosnan would no longer be James Bond,
and then I thought to myself, "Self, Pierce is going to need
to do some bizarre roles so that I won’t be watching a movie
and saying ‘Hey, that’s James Bond!’" "The Matador" really
accomplished this. In this movie, Pierce is Julian. He’s an
assassin for hire. Other than the meaningless sex, drinking
too much, seeing exotic locations, and killing people, his
life is in the dumps. Julian truly realizes this when his
associate wishes him "Happy Birthday" and Julian didn’t even
realize it was his birthday. Drunk in his hotel room, he
pulls out his black book looking for a friend to talk to,
only to find he has no friends. What to do? Well, he’s in
Mexico City and finds a whore house. Good times. The movie
also has Greg Kinnear as a businessman, Danny, on the brink
of ruin but married to a good woman, Bean (Hope Davis). He
finds himself in Mexico City with his business partner,
trying to land a new deal to get his financial life back
together. Danny meets up with Julian in the hotel bar after
Julian’s two hours of fornication and tries to start some
small-talk with Julian. Julian, not one to really talk to
people, pushes Danny away, then begs him to stay because he
begins to realize that sometimes it’s just nice to talk to
someone.
As things go, Danny is stuck in Mexico City, and Julian
and Danny begin to pal around together, Danny isn’t really
freaked out that Julian is an assassin, especially when
Julian shows him a scenario how it can be done, at least
until Julian asks Danny for help in taking out his next
mark. They part ways, and go on with their merry lives.
The problem now is Julian is burnt out as his job as an
assassin, botches a job, and now they powers that be for him
want him dead. Not knowing where to turn, he heads to Denver
to find the only friend he has, namely Danny, where he,
Danny and Bean enjoy a nice night of getting liquored up.
But Julian needs some real help, and Danny eventually goes
along with him so that Julian can get the price off of his
head.
Wow, that was a long synopsis, and I don’t think I gave
anything away, but "The Matador" turned out to be a pretty
funny comedy with some dark topics (it is about an assassin
anyway). Danny and Julian become friends because, as Julian
puts it, Danny is the exact opposite of him. Danny, and
especially Bean, find what Julian does fascinating. Morally
wrong to them, but fascinating nonetheless.
What’s great in this movie are the many one-liners, the
funny situations both Danny and Julian get in, and the
growing friendship Danny and Julian begin to share. Pierce
does a fabulous job as Julian, in getting out of the James
Bond role, although he does kill some people, and Greg
Kinnear as Danny does a great job being able to convey a
wonder at what Julian does for a living because it is
exciting, yet still being freaked by it.
Lots of laughs, some nudity and sex, and just a fun adult
comedy is what you get with "The Matador." And, oh
yea, a well-placed song by the super-group Asia. I’m giving it 4
stars out of 5.
That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!!
L8R!!! |
