julian noble ( pierce brosnan ) be a hit man . or a facilitator of fatality and a he prefer to be call . he be also a drunk and a womaniser and and in the middle of a mid life crisis . on a job in mexico city and he bump into danny white ( greg kinnear ) and an unconfident businessman who think he just nail a recent pitch and but be unsure . they meet in the hotel bar late one night and after they have both have a few too many margarita . sound like the set up for a by the number comedy thriller and doesn not it . but it isn not . instead and the matador be a funny and sometimes touch character study . it avoid every twist that the above summary would suggest and sometimes even set them up just to gleefully tear them down . it be a film that respect it character enough to just let them get on with it and without feel the need to shove them into needless plot contrivance . brosnan hit man will inevitably be compare to his bond and but this be unfair to both performance . bond be a half form idea and a product of all that have go before while while julian be a fully form character with his own motivation and flaw . he have exist in his own shadowy and seedy world for so long that he have forget how to talk to another human be . when he meet danny in the hotel bar and he see his opposite represent a normal guy with a normal job and normal problem . he envy danny while the hit man have become feed up with his life and see himself edge ever close to his inevitable burn out and a he put it . but when danny open up about the death of his only son and julian try to change the subject with a dirty joke . he be a man who have and in his own word and be run from any emotion . kinnear hold his own opposite brosnan performance and and injects danny white with his effortless everyman charm . he be the perfect foil to julian while while the latter be drunken bravado and hedonism and danny be down to earth and with just a hint of eccentricity . but he too go deep than his establish persona and show u how far the everyman will go when face with financial and familial ruin . there be real chemistry between brosnan and kinnear . it be most visible in the film three key scene represent the hotel bar while a bullfight and during which julian tell danny what he do for a living and and take him through a dress rehearsal of an assassination while and a scene in which julian turn up at danny house six month later . this scene also introduce u properly to danny wife and bean ( yes and bean ) . in another example of how much the matador respect it character and bean ( hope davis ) and instead of panic at the presence of a hired killer in her house and merely ask with force calm and do you bring your gun . the script isn not quite as good a could have be after maybe another rewrite . one or two line seem a little forced and and a couple of the joke need a little more work . but in the scene where julian and danny ( and later bean ) just talk and the writing be superb . the film feel no need to put the character in any outlandish situation ( other than meet a hit man and and say hit man turn up on your doorstep ) . it just let them talk and gently nudge them toward necessary plot point . there be action and but only when it reflect on the character . one notable instance be when julian botch a job in budapest because he keep see himself through his rifle scope . the rest of the film be about the character and how they interact and how they each affect one another . and and ultimately and it be about friendship and even in the most unlikely of place . at one point julian tell danny that he be his only friend . and he really mean it .