| THE HIT-MAN AND HIM : Richard Shepard's 'The Matador' [4/10] |
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| Monday, 13 February 2006 | |
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This review was written for the UK-based political magazine Tribune. Click here for subscription details. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Matador USA 2005 (commercial release 2006) Starring : Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan Director : Richard Shepard ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DANIEL Craig has, of course, now started filming Casino Royale as the latest 007 - but one powerful argument for retaining Pierce Brosnan in his beloved role of James Bond was that, if nothing else, those bloated spy epics kept him busy for years at a time. Busy, and thus unable to appear in ropey 'extra-curricular' efforts like Bruce Beresford's Evelyn (2002), John Boorman's The Tailor of Panama (2001) and now The Matador, a decidedly lukewarm hitman 'comedy.' Though he always looked very comfortable in that Bond tux, such awayday 'frolics' generally exposed the limitations of his acting ability. Here, despite somehow picking up a Golden Globe nomination (Best Actor, Comedy/Musical) he's badly overstretched in the central role of Julian Noble, a charismatic/obnoxious professional assassin of wobblily indeterminate accent/nationality. Jaded, burnt out, and losing his prowess after decades globetrotting 'on the job', he seeks companionship from a straight-arrow Denver businessman (Kinnear, typecast) after the pair get drunk one night in a Mexico hotel. As has long been de rigueur in Hollywood, this 'odd couple' form an unlikely friendship - each of them learning valuable life-lessons from the other, etc etc. The material isn't unpromising - we aren't a million miles away from, say, Wim Wenders' The American Friend (1976), Michael Mann's Collateral (2004), or, the best recent example of the sub-genre, Dominik Moll's French variation Harry, He's Here To Help (2000). And one can easily imagine David Mamet using the set-up as a springboard to something intriguing and surprising. On this evidence, however, Shepard isn't anywhere near that kind of league: his script feels broken-backed and underdeveloped (or possibly over re-written?), while his direction seldom graduates beyond a slick, cheesy kind of sub-Tarantino sophomoric swagger. And while veteran cinematographer David Tattersall's strikingly bold visuals keep things borderline-watchable for much of the running-time, ultimately The Matador has as much difficulty hitting the target as Brosnan's yips-plagued has-been sniper. Neil Young This review was written for the UK-based political magazine Tribune. Click here for subscription details. (The Matador was originally reviewed for Jigsaw Lounge as part of Milton Keynes CinemaDays report, October 2005) Second opinion : Sheila Seacroft on The Matador (for Floatation Suite) |
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