Star / producer Pierce Brosnan exercises his comedic chops in this rather nuanced look at the life and career of a veteran hitman. Julian Noble (Brosnan) meets a struggling businessman, Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) when their paths cross in Mexico City. The two become good friends - better friends than we even realize at first, because after Julian has botched more than one job, he becomes a dead man walking. And it is Danny to whom he turns for help. While Danny and his wife "Bean" (Hope Davis) are understandably dismayed at the presence of a professional killer in their home, they get over it, becoming rather intrigued by this charming, eccentric individual.

The supporting cast features some solid actors - Philip Baker Hall, Dylan Baker, Adam Scott - and Davis is enchanting as the loving wife, but the main reason that "The Matador" works as well as it does is due to the interplay between two interesting characters. Brosnan and Kinnear play this extremely well; indeed, Brosnan has never been quite this endearing or amusing before. Also, "The Matador" is a highly offbeat affair, foregoing some of the trappings that one might expect from a tale about a hitman. It forgets about violence (for the most part) and action set pieces, concentrating on its poignant moments and its humour.

Written and directed by the talented Richard Shepard, "The Matador" spends some time globe trotting and offering up some international locales. The title stems from Julians' enjoyment of watching bullfights, and belief that the spectacle is not without honour. The struggle of our haunted main character to overcome his mental blocks and emotional problems does make him vulnerable, and certainly as likeable as any person could be who earns their living killing people.

The brief sight of Brosnan in a cheerleaders' outfit is absolutely priceless. He'd made a good living playing debonair types, but here he really cuts loose for once, and the film is all the better for it. But this is not meant to sell Kinnear short, as he does an excellent job at playing the "straight man" with a tragic past and uncertain present.

Seven out of 10.

"The Matador" is an entry from Leonard Maltin's book "151 Best Movies You've Never Seen" and after running out of suggestions for what to watch on Netflix, I've used the book to find some excellent lesser-known pictures. However, "The Matador" is one suggestion I could have done without. Now I am not saying it's a bad film....but it really didn't do enough to make me glad I saw it.

The movie involves an odd relationship between a screwball assassin (Pierce Brosnan) and ordinary businessman (Greg Kinnear). They have absolutely no reason to like each other nor spend time together...yet, inexplicably, you are expected to believe that they somehow become friends. And, when the hitman loses his mojo and find he can no longer kill, his new odd best friend helps him relearn the love of killing in order to keep himself employed and alive.

So much of the film makes little sense. Sure, the story is original. but if you cannot believe anything you see, it makes a very tough sell...and it just didn't work for me. In addition, I often found the film unnecessarily crude and nasty...and I just had trouble connecting to it.

Married couple Bean (Hope Davis) and Danny Wright (Greg Kinnear) are still recovering from their son's death three years earlier. Danny on a Mexico City business trip encounters Julian Noble (Pierce Brosnan). He is surprised that Julian is actually a hired killer and refuses to help Julian on a job. Julian continues his jobs but his lonely womanizing killing lifestyle starts to take a toll. His failures force his handler Mr. Randy (Philip Baker Hall) to consider terminating him. It's Christmas in Denver when Julian shows up at the Wright home.

Pierce Brosnan delivers a fun assassin. Julian and Danny in Mexico City is loads of fun. The problem is that it never gets any better than that. It would be much better to have the guys join up from Mexico and continue a wacky killing road adventure all the way to the end. This has the parts to make for a fun killer duo but it doesn't completely deliver.