The Matador
Miramax Films | Release Date: December 23, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
24
Mixed:
11
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
PremiereStaff (not credited)
It's a role that essentially demystifies Brosnan's star persona, and in it he is simply sensational, funnier and more persuasively neurotic than even a devoted fan might expect. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Pierce Brosnan is the anti-Bond in The Matador. And though he's anything but suave, sophisticated or debonair, he's a joy to behold. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Brosnan redefines "hit man" in the best performance of his career, and Kinnear plays with, and against, his image as a regular kinda guy. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A wicked comedy with just the mildest amount of pathos to season the blend. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
In The Matador, a delightfully sly diversion, Pierce Brosnan breaks the mold and turns in what might be considered the performance of his career, the kind of witty, relaxed star portrayal that recalls those of Cary Grant and other Golden Era legends. Read full review
80
EmpireIan Nathan
We've never seen Pierce Brosnan so liberated - he’s a man reborn, and for what The Matador may lack in rounded plotting, it makes up for in funny, spiky, idiosyncratic glee. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
There's nothing edgy or groundbreaking about The Matador, but it's funny, touching, and ultimately endearing. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Writer-director Richard Shepard gives Brosnan his meatiest role ever, and he digs in with relish. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
It is no small compliment to Pierce Brosnan to say that his performance in writer-director Richard Shephard's goofy black comedy The Matador could only be rivaled by Christopher Walken. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Clad in dull khakis and a polo shirt, the always reliable Kinnear is his (Brosnon's) perfect foil, while Davis' neat turn as a suburban wife with a penchant for guns and the men who use them turns what might have been a cliched supporting role into something worth watching. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The cinematography is consistently hipster handsome, the script is bracing in its lewdness, and Brosnan adds no unnecessary weight to Noble's meaninglessness. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Brazenly enjoyable, The Matador is a picaresque cocktail with a Tarantino twist. It is The Odd Couple with a buzz on. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneAllison Benedikt
Works remarkably well as a stylish and unconventional buddy flick--cruising along with wit and wisdom. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Brosnan pulls out all the stops in his quest to be the last word in crude boorishness, only slightly relieved by the midlife soul-searching. Whether the public will buy him in this extreme role is another question. But it's a fearless, and fairly skilled, comic performance. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderMartin Rubin
If he'd (Shepard) gone a few notches darker and deeper he might have had a formidable post-cold war thriller. Still, there's much to enjoy in Brosnan's enthusiastic scruffing up of his Bond/Steele image and in Shepard's energetic, if lightweight, direction. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The Matador gets a 151-proof tequila shot of sharp comedy from the droll byplay between Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear. Read full review
70
VarietyJoe Leydon
Deftly maneuvering through audacious mood swings and tonal shifts, The Matador emerges as a quirky yet commercial commingling of black comedy, seriocomic psychodrama, heart-tugging sudser and buddy-movie farce. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
The Matador is brilliantly cast right down to the secondary supporting roles, played by the formidable likes of Dylan Baker and Philip Baker Hall, but it's the leads who really deliver. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Undeniably clever. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Maybe Brosnan is so shockingly good in this film because Kinnear gives him the sounding board and safety net that the actor never had in his sadly solitary spy-flick duties. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
The Matador has its dull patches, one of which is relieved by Hope Davis's endearing presence as Danny's wife. But what fun it is to watch Julian losing it, and Pierce Brosnan nailing it. He's worth the price of admission and then some.
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
The Matador is anything but predictable, and therein lies its sublime and fascinating charm. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Shepard's Matador demonstrates what an Almodovar picture would feel like without his gonzo sensibility. It's Almodovar for heterosexuals. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Never as good as you'd hoped or as bad as you'd feared, The Matador is one of those of up-and-down experiences -- here a sharp pica of wit, there a welcome veronica of absurdity, but, now and then, just a bit too much bull in the ring. Read full review
60
Film ThreatDaniel Wible
The Matador has that shiny sheen that quickly fades, yet is still fun while it lasts. Read full review
60
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Taking the medium slopes and never venturing into extremities, Shepard gets all of his laughs if not the ironic heart-tugs, and his cast is perfectly in tune. (Davis in comedic-observant mode is funnier than most American actresses in fifth gear.) Read full review
60
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The Matador teeters between comedy and moral inquiry but doesn't quite make it either way. The movie features a startling performance, however, by Pierce Brosnan. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Instead of slick heroism, the saving grace of The Matador (which was obviously made on something less than a blockbuster budget) lies in the comic interplay between Brosnan's ignoble Mr. Noble and the hapless square he picks to serve his purposes. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
At first blush, there's something vicariously liberating about Brosnan strutting through a lobby dressed only in Speedos and cowboy boots. But it also feels false. The actor seems to be theatrically slumming before his return to suave form. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
In the end, the movie proves to be, like Brosnan's character, a tarted-up cliche: a whoremonger with a heart of gold. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Because The Matador sustains a tone of screwball insouciance and keeps its trump card hidden up its sleeve, it must be counted as a well-made comic thriller. That doesn't mean it has any depth, credibility or artistic value beyond its capacity to divert. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
As long as the movie's set in Mexico City, The Matador is a slick and entertaining black comedy, but the instant Danny heads back to Denver, it comes flying apart at the seams. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Strives for an airy, merry amorality, but it never quite achieves liftoff, though at times it comes close. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
It's a shame The Matador isn't a better movie, because this semi-dark comedy contains one great, cackling, self-loathing performance by Pierce Brosnan. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The film rapidly devolves into a lame buddy picture, part thriller, mostly goof. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle Smith
If we send Sally Struthers money, will she be able to stop this kind of suffering from taking place in Beverly Hills? Read full review
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