The Matador
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the 1986 Pedro Almodóvar film, see Matador (film).
| The Matador | |
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| Directed by | Richard Shepard |
| Produced by | Pierce Brosnan Bryan Furst Sean Furst Beau St. Clair |
| Written by | Richard Shepard |
| Starring | Pierce Brosnan Greg Kinnear Hope Davis |
| Music by | Rolfe Kent |
| Cinematography | David Tattersall |
| Editing by | Carole Kravetz |
| Distributed by | The Weinstein Company (USA) Miramax Films (UK, Germany) |
| Release date(s) | December 30, 2005 (US) |
| Running time | 96 mins. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Matador is a 2005 comedy film written and directed by Richard Shepard and starring Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear.
As of February 12, 2006, the film grossed a total of $10.5 million in the domestic box office.
The film was released on DVD on July 4, 2006.
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[edit] Plot
An encounter in a Mexican hotel bar, between tired traveling salesman Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) and jaded assassin Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan), leads both men into an awkward friendship. Noble faces the morality of his profession and goes through a mid life crisis, one that causes him to freeze on a job. His bosses request him dead, so Julian flees Mexico and visits Danny at his home on Christmas, looking for a place to stay. Then, one night, he shares the real reason that he came to his new friend: he needed help with one last job.
[edit] Critical reaction
Having been screened at the Sundance, Toronto, and Chicago International film festivals prior to its release, the film was generally well received by critics. Early professional reviews praised Pierce Brosnan's performance, as well as the film's unique and provocative premise and themes. [1]
Ebert & Roeper gave it an enthusiastic "two thumbs up," with Ebert praising the movie as "an overlooked gem" and "Pierce Brosnan's best work to date."
Pierce Brosnan was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical Film at the Golden Globes in 2006. However, he lost to Joaquin Phoenix for Walk the Line.
[edit] Trivia
- The rifle used by Julian Noble is made by Accuracy International.
- Actress Hope Davis was pregnant during the filming of the movie
- According to the credits following the film, all bullfights were created using computer generated images.
- The horse racing scenes were filmed in Mexico City, not Arizona.
- Although Julian travels to Vienna, Las Vegas, Moscow and Manila (spelled Manille in the film), the film was shot entirely in Mexico City.
- If you listen to the commentary for the first deleted scene on the DVD, director Richard Shephard states that the first cut of the film was 2 hours and 10 minutes. This was "very long", and so it was cut down to its current length of 1 hour and 37 minutes.
[edit] Cast
- Pierce Brosnan as Julian Noble
- Greg Kinnear as Danny Wright
- Hope Davis as Carolyn "Bean" Wright
- Philip Baker Hall as Mr. Randy
- Dylan Baker as Lovell
- Adam Scott as Phil Garrison
