Imagine Pierce Brosnan as a sleazy, burned-out hit man instead of the dashing, sophisticated James Bond. In The Matador, Brosnan proves he’s able to portray a character as different from 007 as night is from day -- and do it so well we don’t even think about James Bond for one second while watching his incredible acting. Too bad the rest of this dark comedy fails to reach the level of Brosnan's tour-de-force performance. 

The Matador pairs Brosnan’s lonely, over-the-hill assassin for hire with Greg Kinnear’s down-on-his-luck businessman in what emerges as primarily another odd-couple buddy movie. How do these two disparate characters become friends? Not easily at first. Julian Noble (Brosnan) and Danny Wright (Kinnear) strike up a conversation while drinking at a bar in Mexico City. Because Julian lacks any semblance of the usual social graces, he responds to Danny’s comments about the death of his young son with an obscene joke. Danny can’t help being insulted -- but after Julian apologizes, he accepts an invitation to attend a bullfight with him.

While watching the bullfight, Julian reveals his true occupation to Danny. He describes it as “facilitating fatalities.” Danny thinks this is a big joke until Julian shows him how he would take out a particular member of the bullfight crowd. This sets the stage for an unbelievable plot about how Julian and Danny help each other.

I found it impossible to suspend disbelief while watching The Matador. Would an average guy like the one played by Kinnear (Stuck on You) strike up a friendship with someone he knows is a hit man -- especially one as crude as Brosnan’s Julian? I don’t think so. And would a man like Danny get involved in helping Julian with his “facilitator” assignments? Same answer. Probably because of Brosnan’s superb performance, I accepted Julian’s behavior, but Kinnear’s character didn’t ring true to me. Granted, there are some amusing moments between these two men, but not enough to make their relationship seem genuine. 

However, the sublime Hope Davis (The Secret Lives of Dentists) delivers a fine supporting turn here as Danny’s wife -- her eagerness to find out more about Julian’s work is completely convincing. I wish she had received more screen time.

Still, The Matador belongs to Brosnan. He makes us care about Julian in spite of all his faults. Brosnan’s facial expressions tell us everything we need to know about Julian’s sadness and loneliness. And his body language shouts “I’m tired of all this.” It’s a fearless, self-effacing performance.

While greatly admiring Brosnan’s acting, I’m disappointed at the amoral nature of The Matador. With this uneven film, writer/director Richard Shepard has given us another Hollywood movie suggesting that the end justifies the means.

(Released by The Weinstein Company and rated “R” for strong sexual content and language.)