The Matador (2005)

A globetrotting hitman and a crestfallen businessman meet in a hotel bar in Mexico City in an encounter that draws them together in a way neither expected.

Director:

Richard Shepard

Writer:

Richard Shepard

Stars:

Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pierce Brosnan	...	Julian Noble
Arlin Miller	...	Radio DJ (voice)
Azucena Medina	...	Young Denver Fling
Jonah Meyerson	...	Ten Year Old Boy
Wiveca Bonerais	...	Ten Year Old Boy's Mother
Greg Kinnear	...	Danny Wright
Hope Davis	...	Carolyn 'Bean' Wright
Adam Scott	...	Phil Garrison
Portia Dawson	...	Genevive
Roberto Sosa	...	Skinny Mexican Man
Antonio Zavala Kugler	...	Hotel Bartender 1
Ramon Alvarez	...	Shooting Stand Owner
Luz Maria Molina	...	School Girl
Philip Baker Hall	...	Mr. Randy
Carolyn Horwitz	...	Cantina Turista #1

Storyline

A chance encounter between a travelling salesman and a lonely hitman triggers a strangely profound relationship which provokes each to act in ways neither would have imagined possible. Fate steps in to form a friendship between two men from irreconcilable worlds that will alter the lives of both forever.

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Plot Keywords:

hitman | bisexual man | mexico city | bar | mexico | 

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Taglines:

A hitman and a salesman walk into a bar...

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Production Notes

Country:

Ireland Germany USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 January 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Matador

Filming Locations:

Camino Real Hotel, Mexico City, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$92,312, 1 January 2006, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$12,594,698, 30 March 2006

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$17,297,244, 6 October 2006

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stratus Film Co.,DEJ Productions,Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & Co. KG II

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second of four collaborations (to date, October 2016) of Cinematographer David Tattersall and Pierce Brosnan. The others being Die Another Day (2002), The Foreigner (2017), and Some Kind of Beautiful (2014).

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Goofs

When Danny, Bean and Julian are drinking whiskey late at night in the Wright's house, the position of the bottle moves from the table, to on top of a book, and back onto the table again during different camera shots of them all talking.

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Quotes

Julian Noble: I'm as serious as an erection problem.

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Crazy Credits

"The filmmakers do not condone bullfighting, but respect its long tradition in the Mexican culture. It was extremely important to the producers that no bulls were harmed because of the production of 'The Matador'. In no way did the producers of this film create, arrange or organize any of the bullfights seen within this movie. Sequences staged by the producers employed fake and computer-generated bulls exclusively. Absolutely no animals were harmed by the production of this movie."

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Connections

Featured in The Making of The Matador (2006)

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Soundtracks

Heat of the Moment
Written by John Wetton and Geoff Downes (as Geoffrey Downes)
Performed by Asia
Courtesy of Geffen Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Entertaining crime comedy with Pierce Brosnan in a very successful comic turn

Pierce Brosnan has sipped his last Martini and returns, in an outrageous self-parody, as the aging foul-mouthed boozy assassin Julian Noble, who has a particular fondness for teenage girls, bullfights and tacky clothes. During a job in Mexico City he meets Danny (Greg Kinnear), a straight-faced Denver suburban business-man, who's in town to make his deal of-a-life-time, in a hotel bar. Despite their completely different personalities and Julian's crude and insensible remarks, they become friends.

Largely carried by the performances of Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear, director Richard Shepard revealed that he didn't write the film with Pierce Brosnan in mind , but I can hardly imagine this without him. He proves to have a real talent for comedy and can be more than just James Bond or cold-war spies. The scene in which the two meet at a glossy hotel bar (stunning sets and beautifully photographed) really is a bravura piece of acting skills. The scene lasts almost fifteen minutes, and although it was probably carefully scripted, the two actors are largely improvising, but they succeed wonderfully! It almost feels like a new standard in screen acting. Think of Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel in MEAN STEETS improvising and add one of the most subtle underpinnings of many genre clichés and the actors' own typecasting (Brosnan's James Bond in particular), and you got one of the most delightful pairings in recent Hollywood.

Sadly, the story wears thin after a while. After an hour, the film just runs out of steam. Nevertheless, and I can't put my finger on it exactly, I did enjoy this very much. It just feels very fresh and original, with some imaginative use of sets and lighting, and some hints to Seijun Suzuki and Jean-Pierre Melville. The other characters aren't given much to do, but this film does offer something new, in that respect it almost effortlessly succeeds in blending all conventional genres into quite an entertaining spoof. Very amusing.

Camera Obscura --- 7/10