the matador be a dark comedy star pierce brosnan a an age hit man who befriend a straight arrow and happily marry american businessman ( greg kinnear ) in mexico . although the sardonic julian ( ironically surnamed noble ) appear to be a tough guy on the surface and underneath he be really just a mass of neurosis and insecurity and a man who realize that his chosen profession have leave him virtually alone in the world and friendless . thus on his birthday and he reach out to danny and a man who have live his life playing by the rule and who become strangely intrigue by julian unconventional lifestyle . in fact and both men find in each other the person they could never be but wish they could become in their quieter and franker moment of self evaluation . although the film be a bit too reminiscent of analyze this and midnight run to feel entirely fresh and original and the matador and nevertheless and earn point for the complexity of it character and the quality of it acting . brosnan and look age and almost use up and sink his teeth into the role of julian in a way he never have before . play a man who seem constitutionally unable to make a serious connection with another human be and brosnan be flip and cavalier one moment and then genuine and sympathetic the next . he always keep u off balance so that the humor never become crass or stale . kinnear be also excellent a the regular joe businessman who find himself pull ever more to the dark side a his relationship with julian deepens . hope davis do a fine job a bean and danny loyal and loving wife who and like her husband and find herself intrigue by this mysterious and dangerous figure from a world far different from the one she know . at time and we find ourselves feel that the matador be hold something back from u and not quite plumb the depth of it situation and premise . at the end it feel a little too light and a little too insubstantial to register the impact it should . this could be because this be the feature film debut for writer or director richard shephard and and he hasn not quite get his movie pace down yet . still and one appreciate the fact that he doesn not always go for the obvious and that he keep tightly focus on the two main figure in the piece and rarely settle for the trite setup or the easy laugh . the matador be a flawed but generally entertaining little comedy that will and hopefully and signal a new phase in brosnan act career .