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Lonely hit man Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan in a Golden Globe-nominated performance) and struggling salesman Danny Wright (Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear) form an unexpected bond during a chance meeting in a Mexican bar. Six months later, when the self-proclaimed "facilitator of fatalities" turns up on the doorstep desperate for help, Danny and his wife (Hope Davis) are both horrified...but intrigued enough to oblige. Together, the two men set out for the most thrilling adventure of Danny's life and the most critical kill of Julian's career. Deftly mixing explosive action with savage wit, The Matador is "effortlessly entertaining" (Rex Reed, The New York Observer).

I cannot remember who it was that suggested I watch The Matador. I always try to get back to those who make recommendations I use and offer my feedback, but this time please forgive me.

I have always enjoyed Pierce Brosnan. I never really thought he was the best James Bond, but he did well in the roll...if that makes any sense. Either way, you understand that he is always the cool Brit chick-magnet. In The Matador, there is a small twist on that as he has a strong penchant towards booze and loose women. Not only does Julian Noble lack the class of James Bond, but he may be completely devoid of tact as well. He is a loose cannon and completely socially awkward. For 22 years he has enjoyed a career that has kept him in total isolation from other people's personal lives. Or more so that it has been his personal life that has remained in isolation.

Things have changed. While in Mexico on a job, he has a startling realization that he has no friends. Drunk and lonely he stumbles into the hotel bar and finds an unsuspecting Greg Kinnear character (Danny). This poor man, who is nervously waiting to hear back from the company he just pitched for business, breaks the commandment of thou shalt not be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He is the first friendly face Julian has come across since he realized he had no friendly faces in his life and he is immediately labeled "friend."

The unlikely duo plays the get-to-know-you game for a little while before Julian oversteps his boundaries by asking Danny to help him on a job. Julian asks Danny to help him kill a man. Pulling the trigger or distracting body guards, there is no difference to Danny who wants no part of Julian's business in Mexico, a decision from which we are shown the seeming end of the friendship. Until Julian shows up on Danny's doorstep in Colorado.

For a few days Danny stayed in Mexico in case the company whose business he sought needed to hear his pitch a second time, and over those few days he shared a few drinks with a man who kills people for a living, a man with no one else to turn to when he is at his wit's end. Julian needs a friend again and with no one else to turn to, he gives Danny the choice to help or turn his back.

Brosnan and Kinnear play an odd-couple of sorts, two personalities who could hardly be more different. I would argue that they did not have good chemistry together, but that was the whole point. I believe every interaction between Julian and Danny was supposed to be as uncomfortable for the viewers as it was for Danny. That was mission accomplished.

I liked where the movie started. I liked where it was going. I did not like where it ended up. The final scene was the best way they could have ended the movie, but it was the conflict resolution I did not like. I liked the Julian Noble character, but the movie would have been better had it been about all of the years he was the best at what he did. Remove the conflict in The Matador and let Julian do what he does best with a camera over his shoulder. Give me a The Matador prequel and I bet you sell more tickets.

The movie was luke warm. You would be ok to see it at someone else's request, but you needn't actively seek out The Matador.

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