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Imagine Pierce Brosnan, heretofore known as arguably the best James Bond that franchise has seen, walking through a hotel lobby wearing nothing but a Speedo and boots, all the while sipping a beer, puffing a cigarette and not giving a damn about what anyone thinks. He is Julian, a likable, washed-up assassin on the verge of a mental breakdown and in desperate need of a friend. Of course, it doesn’t help when he meets a nice, unassuming businessman named Danny (Greg Kinnear) in a bar and responds with a “two Mexicans walk into a cantina” joke when Danny begins to tell him of his dead son.
But knowing Julian, this is the kind of response you’d expect. Just moments earlier his boss (Philip Baker Hall) asked him if he’d studied his latest assignment, to which he sarcastically replied: “No, I shredded it. Then I humped the bellboy on the room service cart.”
From the pen and through the watchful eye of Richard Shepard, the Mexico City-based “The Matador” is an irreverent, laugh-out-loud fiesta of creative freedom in which anything can and does happen. The fresh, sardonic dialogue complements the unlikely friendship between Julian and Danny, and later Danny’s wife Bean (Hope Davis), as each man begins to have an unexpected yet touching affect on the other.
Having already established how amiable and impressionable Danny can be by the time they meet, there’s little difficulty in believing that the friendship could happen. Kinnear plays Danny as straight as you can play a straight man, and while he can occasionally be a tad annoying, it fits the character very well. But make no mistake: The irresistible delight of the movie is Brosnan’s endlessly amusing performance, rife with promiscuity, drinking, an omnipresent five o’clock shadow and a mustache that won’t quit. When coupled with a piercing sarcasm and unfettered social skills, one could say that Julian is the anti-James Bond, yet is played more convincingly and endearingly by Brosnan than he does the suave secret agent.
The movie is a perfect example of how a standard genre formula (the buddy comedy) can be effective when instilled with creative energy. While Shepard’s dialogue accounted for one of the best scripts of 2005 (the film is technically a 2005 release because it opened in NY/LA before the New Year), his direction and the production design of Robert Pearson create a bright, vibrant world of color and surprise. Note the strong shades of green and blue when Danny and Julian first meet in the bar; the blue foreshadows a coldness to the encounter, while the little bit of green in the background metaphorically suggests a softer, more hopeful end to the conversation/relationship.
Although the film was shot entirely on location in Mexico City, Pearson has done a great job of making every locale look authentic. At given times, Mexico City ably doubles for Budapest, the Philippines, Las Vegas, Denver, a race track in Arizona and more, each of which is pointed out by big letters flashing on the screen to proudly tell us where we are.
In fairness, though, with dialogue and performances as good as we see here, it really doesn’t matter where we are. Buddy comedies often come and go without as much as a second glance, but the acerbic, biting hilarity of “The Matador” makes it an absolute must-see.
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