THE MATADOR
US, 2005, 96 minutes, Colour.
Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Adam Scott, Philip Baker Hall, Dylan Baker.
Directed by Richard Shepard.
A glossy, very, tongue-in-cheek black comedy a touch reminiscent of Analyze This and Analyze That. A hitman has a nervous breakdown.
A charmingly disshevilled Pierce Brosnan is a longtime effective hitman. But, he has lost his edge. When he looks through the sights at his targets, he sees himself as a sad child. He misses. He can’t do it.
After an almost botched job in Mexico City, his forgetting his woes in sex and drowning them in drink, we he shares a drink in a bar with a genial Denver man who is in line for a big job. Between jigs and reels, they go to a bullfight where the hitman confesses the truth to the nice man who is disbelieving and non-plussed.
Trips to Europe. More failures. Warnings from his handler. He goes on the run. Where to? Denver. The nice man and his intrigued wife (Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis) take him in. But, there is one more twist.
So, if you want to know what the twist is, you like Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear who genially work of one another, and enjoy international locations (most filmed in Mexico in fact), then the only thing to do is to see this comic amoral film.
1.A serious comedy? Black comedy? Amoral/moral?
2.The glossy style of the film, the locations, the Mexican settings (and Mexico used for other international settings)? The musical score, the Spanish flavour?
3.The title, the images of the matador, the bullfighting sequences? The close-ups of the skills of the matador? The matador meaning killer? The matador having an edge, skilful strokes?
4.A drama about a hit man? A comedy about a hit man? Burnt-out criminals (in the Analyze This vein)? The echoes of Strangers on a Train, two strangers at sport, discussing murders? The hit man on the run? The twists and his being pursued? His not having friends? His having met Danny? Relying on Danny? The issue of morality, Julian and his seeing his child self when attempting to do the killings? The final killing, the twist – freedom?
5.Pierce Brosnan’s style as Julian? The images of himself as a child, not having any background, lying about his marriage? His appearance and clothes, dishevelled? The nervous breakdown? The children in Denver asking him questions, the car exploding? The aftermath of his killings, drinking, sex? His travelling? The relationship with Mr Randy, getting his orders from him? In Europe, Mexico? The overall handler and the meeting with Mr Randy? Suspicions of his losing his edge? Going to Mexico, the targeted woman and killing her? In the bar, the sexual encounters? With Danny, the discussions, his rudeness about Danny’s memory of his son’s death? The continued talk, drinking, need for friendship, the bond between the two? Going to the bullfight and the explanation about matadors? Explaining how he did the killing – and explaining to Danny a case study? Danny’s disbelief? The effect? Julian as middle-aged, burnt out? Missing his targets? The final killing? Proving himself? A wisecracking hit man suffering nervous breakdown?
6.The contrast with Danny and Bean, their nice home in Denver, the possibility of a new job, getting up, the breakfast sequence? Supportive wife? His friend Phil Garrison, their flying to Mexico? The irony of the storm, the tree demolishing the kitchen? The hope for the job, the interviews? Confidence? At the bar, the encounter with Julian, his being hurt and insulted, his making concessions? Going to the bullfight? Their friendship? His disbelief about Julian’s being a hit man? The test case? The irony of the later flashback, the temptation for Danny to eliminate his rival for the job – and Julian telling him he was not that kind of person?
7.Julian arriving at the night, dishevelled, the talk, needing support? Bean and her accepting Julian, fascinated by him, the drinking, wanting to see the gun, listening to the stories? His staying?
8.Wanting Danny to help him, the moral pressure on him? The tickets to Arizona? Danny going? Julian and the set-up for the killing, Danny and his holding the drinks unsteadily, his performing his role – and Julian unable to finish the killing?
9.Julian and Mr Randy, the consultor and his saying that Julian should be eliminated? The irony of the target being the controller? Julian and his self-knowledge? Danny and his self-knowledge? His marriage? Julian and his future?
10.The black comedy? The amoral stance on values? But Julian’s and Danny’s behaviour being measured according to moral standards?
