MATADOR, THE - DVD review

Don't be misled by the packaging on this one. The Bond look—with a shadowy female backlit by fire and Pierce Brosnan pointing a pistol at you—is meant to be strictly tongue-in-cheek. Richard Shepard's dark comedy is so far from 007 that it's not even in the same area code.

After seeing Brosnan charm and finesse his way through four James Bond films, and, of course, recalling his "Remington Steele" years, it's a bit of a shock to see him shlump along from scene to scene in "The Matador." Brosnan plays a tackily-dressed hit man (we're talking cowboy booties and a Speed-o, folks) who's starting to lose his nerve and having Tony Soprano-style dreams and shut-downs. In Mexico, he meets your typical American Joe at a bar and insults him as he insults pretty much everyone. Charm? What's that? Pathetically friendless and needy, this hit man fixates on the poor businessman (Greg Kinnear), dogging him the way Bill Murray did his psychologist in "What About Bob?" As suave as Agent 007 was, Julian Noble is anything but—and that's a big pun intended.

When we first see Julian, he's waking up next to a naked woman, which is certainly something Mr. Bond has done on more than one occasion. But like the loser who has to take a picture of his conquest to show disbelieving buddies, Julian peeks under the sheet to have another giggling look at the woman's butt. Then, noticing her toenail polish, he rummages through her purse (the contents of which tip us off that she's a hooker, not someone who's succumbed to his devastating personality) and uses the polish to do his own tootsies! Bond was a lady-killer. Julian flirts with teenaged schoolgirls.

Needless to say, Mr. (Ig)Noble takes the sheen off being a hit man, presenting as unglamorous a figure as there can possibly be. He's frequently unshaven, often inarticulate, and sometimes comes across as a man who's perpetually poised on the brink of drunkenness or a hyper state of eccentricity. After a chance meeting in a Mexican bar, he seems desperate to bond with Danny Wright. (Okay, I have to say that the naming in this film gets a bit too precious—meeting Mr. Wright in a bar?). Conversation isn't enough. After revealing his occupation for the first time to someone other than his handler, Mr. Randy (Philip Baker Hall), Julian wants to show Danny how he pulls off a hit. He does so when they're at a bullfight together, and we viewers are supposed to see the similarities between the matador and the hit man.

But most viewers will be focused on the two stars, whose relationship on camera evolves with curious believability. This is an offbeat and, yes, dryly funny film that Shepard had no trouble selling at Sundance—though he had to get his money from some 30 sources. As oddball and far-fetched as the plot is, we gobble it up until Danny returns to his wife, Bean (Hope Davis) in Denver and one night before Christmas guess who turns up on their doorstep? Julian has a problem. He's blown a hit and people are after him. It turns out he gets one last chance to make amends, and he needs Danny's help to get him a clear shot at the mark. Here's where it gets a little too inexplicably like "Fun with Dick and Jane," with Bean fawning all over the hit man and wanting to see his gun and hold it (Freudians, stop laughing). If you think too hard about the couple's motivations, the last third of the film will seem contrived and hard to swallow. Thankfully, the three actors deliver such wonderful performances and click so well together that we're easily diverted.

"The Matador" was shot entirely in Mexico City, and more than half of the frames are filled with bright colors and interesting angles. To reinforce the fact that he's "stylin'," Shepard uses oversized place tiles to show a change of location. DENVER sprawls across the entirety of your screen in bright blue, so big that it's almost hard to read—though the style is apt to remind you of comic books. At times it can get old, but overall "The Matador" is a fun romp. If you're looking for lots of shooting or action, you'd better look elsewhere. This indie film is all about character . . . and tongue-in-cheek, anti-Bond humor. And in that, it succeeds pretty well.

"The Matador" is rated "R" for sexual content and strong language.

Video: "The Matador" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, and while there are scenes that have the grain that we've almost come to expect from independent films, there are also plenty of frames—especially the outdoor scenes shot with natural light—that look awfully sharp. The color saturation is very good, with primary colors driving the visuals in many scenes and a drab palette moving others in a strangely schizoid visual way. Overall, a decent picture.

Audio: The English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack isn't bad, but I frankly expected more rear-speaker action, given the amount of time that the characters spend on the streets of Mexico City. But the audio levels of the dialogue, ambient noise, soundtrack, and Foley effects are modulated so that none stands out or seems deficient, and the tonal quality is bright but not hollow or too full of treble. In other words, the sound is pretty decent overall. Subtitles are in English and Spanish. Curiously, though the pre-publicity lists French as a language option, there was only English on this disc, and no French subtitles.

Extras: Shepard says that he cut about a half hour from the first print, but there's roughly only half that in deleted scenes provided here, playable with optional commentary. The scenes themselves are no great shakes (except for one, which I'll not spoil by telling you), but Shepard has more to say about them than directors usually do. He also offers up an above-average commentary on his solo track, and manages to hold his own on the more raucous commentary he does with Kinnear and Brosnan, who clearly went into the studio thinking that if they had to do this commentary, by god they were going to have a fun time. As a result, listeners will have a pretty fun time two. Both commentaries are worth listening to.

The making-of feature is pretty standard, though, and of two radio shows which feature the director talking about "The Matador," the PBS interview in which he talks about the Sundance scene is the most interesting. Would-be filmmakers (or Sundance groupies) will enjoy it. Rounding out the extras are TV and theatrical trailers and a bio on the director.

Bottom Line: "The Matador" doesn't blow you away with action and tension the way that "Leon the Professional" does, and it lacks the glib humor and plot twists of "Grosse Point Blank." In fact, the narrative is so straightforward that it's clear Shepard was counting on his stars to bring their characters—and this film—to life. Thankfully they do, and in an enjoyable way.