“The Matador”

Directed by: Richard Sheppard

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis

Rating: R (for sexual content, adult language and implied violence)

Running time: 95 minutes

Best suited for: dark-comedy buffs

Least suited for: light-comedy buffs

Remember “The Cable Guy”? Matthew Broderick plays Steve, a meek apartment dweller and Jim Carrey plays Chip, a psychotic cable TV installer who decides to become Steve’s best friend, whether Steve likes it or not.

A

“The Matador” takes that creepy concept one step furtherDanny’s a meek, likable salesman down in Mexico ready to make the deal of a lifetime after a streak of personal misfortunes. Over margaritas he meets Julian, a sloshed fellow American—and the two begin to chat. SuddenlyJulian wants to be Danny’s new best friend. After a few false starts, they seem to hit it offJulian even takes Danny to a bullfight, and Danny’s thrilled with the experience. The only problem is that Julian is a hit man. A killerA “facilitator,” as he blithely calls himself.

If you’ve seen the trailers, you might be expecting a farcical romp with a hint of roguish black humor, a kind of “Mr. & MrsSmith” without the romantic innuendo. But “The Matador” is murkier than that, a seriously dark comedy with a few sprinkles of mirth attached that keep it from sinking into the abyss. Which isn’t to say it’s a bad effort—“The Matador” is actually quite good at what it sets out to do. It’s just that viewers should be prepared. Its job isn’t so much to tickle your funny bone as it is to question the blurry gray area of one’s own morality.

What’s going for “The Matador” is Greg Kinnear, who plays Danny with a wide-eyed, boynext-door innocence and who also, we discover, has a streak of Walter Mitty.

When Danny’s persistence ultimately forces Julian to divulge his profession, Danny jokingly asks Julian to “prove it.” A robotic calm transforms Julian, who proceeds to take Danny—and the audience—on a simulated hit. At first giddy and exuberant, Danny gradually realizes that the experience might not be so simulated after all. How far will Julian go? It’s that kind of quirky edginess that peppers the “The Matador” and keeps it spicy hot.

There’s also Pierce Brosnan as Julian, wearing his burned-out hit man persona like James Bond’s psychotic, evil twin. This man has no license to kill, only the personality to do so—clearly a man who once-upon-a-time loved his job but now feels a little stressed about the whole thing. The film offers no apologies for Julian’s profession, no contrition for his choices. The man is clearly borderline crazy. Most of us would have turned our backs and run, whereas Danny—the kind of guy we assume welcomes doorto-door religious zealots and Fuller Brush men into his home for cookies and milk—gives Julian a second chance at friendship. No wonder Julian falls for this guy. Danny’s the world’s perfect next-door neighbor.

Until his interest in Julian takes an unexpected twist.

And then there’s Bean (Hope Davis), Danny’s equally naive, vivacious wife. But even Stepford Wives can be full of surprises: when Julian appears uninvited at the couple’s doorstep late one evening, Bean’s obsessed with seeing Julian’s gun. Such symbolism abounds. She gazes at Julian with dreamy eyes, and we can sense the fantasies bubbling up behind the childlike facade. Quiet suburbia, it seems, may have a twisted, coal-black center after all. But didn’t we suspect this all along?

Despite a few nice twists and turns plot-wise, this one’s really a buddy movie, a character study of opposites attracting. The subtle (and not so subtle) innuendos abound and none of society’s cows are sacred. Beneath Julian’s sometimes charming demeanor is a foul-mouthed killing machine that Brosnan turns on and off with effortless dexterity.

However, “The Matador’s” character-driven engine is also its biggest drawback. As catchy and clever as their dialogue is at times, I couldn’t help but feel the interplay could have been even better—tauter, edgier, more subliminally twisted. Kinnear’s Mittyesque transformation seems rushed, even superficial. I sensed more depth to the character that remains unexplored. Ditto for Julian.

In a nutshell: “The Matador” is a surprisingly dark adult comedy about a stressed-out hit man and the nice guy who befriends him—then can’t quite get rid of him. It’s a buddy film with a twist, a nicely done black comedy for those who appreciate such things. But don’t expect to see this for the laughs. Despite its many glimpses of sunshine, it remains partly cloudy, cold and moody.