Killing James Bond: Pierce Brosnan Goes Indie In "The Matador"

When examining this week’s film options, don’t let the cast of Richard Shepard’s new film “The Matador” scare you away. With Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear in the two leads, you could be forgiven for expecting a by-the-numbers heist movie (“After The Sun 2”, anyone?). Thankfully, the first couple of minutes of the film completely dissolve any baggage James Bond brings by way of Brosnan’s character having a bad mustache, a SuperCuts do, and a taste for cheap prostitutes.

Giving away a film’s plot is a horrible way to write up a movie, so we’ll simply say that Bronsan plays an assassin, Kinnear plays a salesman, and Hope Davis has a nice supporting role as Kinnear’s wife. Beyond that, the biggest surprise is that Brosnan might be taking a page from the Bill Murray playbook (by going indie, not by underacting). His character is fascinating but rarely sympathetic, and is prone to spouting such un-Bond lines as “I feel worse than a Thai hooker on a Sunday morning after the navy just left town.” Kinnear is well-cast as the straight man with a curiosity about what he’s missing in life, and the film really rides on the acting chemistry between these two. Given that it started (before Brosnan signed on) as an indie script with a sub-$1 million budget, there isn’t much action, but mainly a lot of banter in hotels, cafes, and homes.

One final note: the entire film was shot in Mexico City and is bathed in pastels that would make Sonny Crockett wince. While Austinist has it on good authority that it’s not a very easy or fun place to make a film, the colors and atmosphere give the film a very fresh look that makes it far more appealing than a NY or LA-set movie. We highly recommend the dark comedy of “The Matador”, mustache and all.

The Matador is now playing at Alamo Drafthouse Lamar + Lake Creek, AMC Barton Creek Square, and Regal Metropolitan + Gateway. Photo via Miramax.