He don't have a heart. I just keep feeding him shells. He gets it poppin' in the hood, so his name ring bells.

2.16.2006

Movie: The Matador


I don't know what I was expecting from The Matador, but it wasn't what I saw. What I saw was much, much better.

Maybe it is because Greg Kinnear has always struck me as a fairly safe, vanilla actor. Maybe it is because I didn't truly believe that Pierce Brosnan would (or could) deconstruct his entire Bond image in 90 minutes. Maybe it is because I forgot that I have a secret crush on Hope Davis. I don't know why. But the fact remains: The Matador is a better movie than it has any right to be.

The plot may not win any originality awards (hitman has nervous breakdown, befriends suburban male in hotel bar), but it is fun. And the casting, in retrospect, is inspired. Greg Kinnear plays a different shade of his character from As Good As It Gets: thrown into concert with a lunatic, forced to make the best of it. He has more confidence here, and really hits all the notes he needs to. In many respects, Kinnear makes the film work. Without him, you basically have a slapstick mess with Brosnan putting on nail polish and acting retarded. Kinnear supplies the heart, the insecurity, the material that the audience can connect to. Hope Davis' role is brief, but very important, and anchors the insanity in some semblance of reality.

Pierce Brosnan has gotten most of the press surrounding this movie, and with good reason. The comedy he utilizes in this role is very broad, absurdist humor. Yet somehow, he manages to inject some real pathos into the part and generate sympathy for this complete cod-piece of a character. He goes about as far as you can go without abandoning the audience's trust, and the result is a performance that is the most captivating and gleeful work Brosnan has done since before he donned the infamous tuxedo.

It might not have been the best choice for a Valentine's Day date movie, though. :)

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