A hit man suffers a nervous breakdown while on the job in Mexico. While he’s recovering, he meets a traveling salesman and his wife, who appear to be the very quintessence of normalcy but who are naturally having some problems of their own. The lonely contract killer reaches out to the salesman, forming a friendship neither could have predicted or expected, a bond so strong that it causes each to act in ways foreign to their basic natures in order to protect that bond, and each other. Ultimately, all three see their former lives changed forever.
The Matador is the latest project from Pierce Brosnan’s Irish DreamTime, which has produced a goodly number of the star’s most recent non-Bond efforts. And judging from the films, Brosnan is using his production company not so much to create vanity projects but to get films made that might not otherwise see the light of day if a bankable star were not involved or starring in them, which is not exactly business-as-usual with stars’ production companies. The Matador, described by Brosnan as a black comedy, seems to follow along this line of creating unique and fascinating character studies that have nothing to do with special effects or things blowing up real good. It will be intriguing to see how The Matador takes Brosnan down yet another road that is divergent from arguably the world’s most famous British super-spy. (Stephanie Star Smith/BOP)
Comparison films for The Matador |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
| Enemy of The State |
11/20/98 | 20.04 |
25.76 |
2393 |
8374.00 |
10355.9 |
111.54 |
143.40 |
5.57 |
| Thomas Crown Affair, The |
8/6/99 | 14.60 |
17.39 |
2427 |
6016.00 |
6868.7 |
69.30 |
82.58 |
4.75 |
| Arlington Road |
7/9/99 | 7.52 |
8.96 |
1631 |
4611.00 |
5264.5 |
24.36 |
29.02 |
3.24 |
