Two men meet each other in a bar in Mexico, only to find themselves drawn together in a way they never imagined. It turns out one of the men is a hitman, the other a simple man trying to close a deal in Mexico.

The two form a friendship in which Julian (Pierce Brosnan) leads Danny (Greg Kinnear) in to a world of assassins, and even demonstrating his ability as a way to draw him into helping him. Danny refuses, and the two part ways, only to meet up again when Julian turns up at his doorstep. It seems there’s more than meets the eye, and a hidden truth has yet to be uncovered from six months previously.

I’m not sure why, but there seems to be a question mark over Julian sexuality, but this simply serves to be a part of his character. The hedonistic and smooth talking hitman that can get any woman, and it seems, man if he chose to. He seems to have hidden desires, like being a cheerleader, and wearing nail polish. To each their own.

Kinnear’s character of Danny is rather the opposite, being both naive and simple in his life with his childhood sweetheart turned wife. He’s desperate for his deal to go through, fearing that his wife may end up leaving him. He’s consoled by Julian’s presence, as Julian often gets drunk and is consoled by Danny.

The Matador has none of the slickness you would expect from a Hollywood. It’s well produced, well polished, but it’s both humourous and entertaining in equal measure and doesn’t given in to fickle materialism.

Brosnan is briliant, and seems to have had no problems leaving the dull and rather out dated character of Bond behind, turning out a performance that will make you laugh and feel bad for the bad guy. Kinnear is also equally likeable, and makes you question how far he may go to help his new found friend. Or indeed, vice versa.

The Matador is not going to be a film for everyone, and there’s several reasons for that. This is not an out and out assassin film, the action is controlled and in short bursts. To be honest it’s not even action, and more moments of compressed tension. You ponder as to when the gun will be fired as you watch the crosshair float across the screen.

Pace may also pose a problem for a mainstream audience. The film starts off a bit slow, and starts to pick up the pace gradually. Although in the first few minutes we’re treated to an explosion, don’t expect break neck speed violence. Much of the violence is never shown in any case, with the camera cutting away, not assuming the viewer is a dumb enough moron to not understand the outcome of the assassinations.

Visually, the cinematography is excellent, taking in the environments and people from different parts of the world, offering great, lush and colourful scenes, back to the cold, harsh winter in Denver. It’s very well accomplished and offers a refreshing change to yet another film about assassins running down dirty dark alleys in a ghetto of sorts.

I was frankly suprised as to how good a film The Matador is. Not only did Brosnan play a character that could finally be liked, at a human level, but the comic dynamic he has with Kinnear is excellent and worthy of praise. This isn’t Analyze This or Meet the Fockers humour, it’s subtle, and it works.

I really enjoyed watch something different from the Hollywood stables, and it’s finally good to see that they do have some brains and can treat the audience as having a mind of their own too. The Matador is a worthy watch, but only if you’re not after mindless gun toting, and instead and enjoyable and often funny look at a hitman approaching a mid life crisis.

Verdict: Thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining dark comedy