Sometime over the weekend, I saw The Matador. I doubt I would’ve gotten around to it, only it fit the day’s schedule better than my horror-remake preference or my mom’s generic military coming-of-age preference. Which is almost certainly lucky for one of us, and that one of us is probably me, so I’ll take it. Why, then, have I not reviewed it yet? That was days and days ago. I don’t have a good answer. My head has not been in the right place for typing, perhaps. Nonetheless, I’m here now, and here I go.

So, yeah, Pierce Brosnan as a contract killer is not a stretch, perhaps, but this ain’t no James Bond flick. Bond was never an alcoholic, for one thing, neither did he ever have moments of doubt or a penchant for pedophilia. At least, we’re led to believe he had none of those things, but considering one of the things Bond and Julian Noble do have in common, I’m not so sure we can really take any of this to the bank. That is, they’re both sociopaths.

I know what you’re thinking, but it’s all there. Bond has no regard for others, no sense of remorse over his actions, is a consummate liar and indulges in constant illegal activity. It’s just that’s he’s in one of the few jobs where all of this is sanctioned, and it’s worked out very well for him. But I’m not here to talk about Bond, just to make the comparison. My sense is that whereas Bond is filmed through a flattering lens that hides all of these flaws in favor of what he achieves for his country, Noble is shown in a more honest light. Of course, being a paid assassin is automatically less acceptable than being a spy, but the ways he acts toward other people are much less polished as well. And yet, in true sociopathic form, he’s still thoroughly likable, witty, and outright fun to be around, able to win people over at the drop of a hat and keep them won despite being caught in insulting lies. I know I was rooting for him, even while diagnosing in my head everything that made him not just a bad person but an outright sick one.

So: funny movie, good characters, reasonable enough storyline. I should say that I don’t think I ever quite bought into the matador comparison that was the movie’s central conceit. …and it’s pleasant I did say so, because it’s just clicked for me. The whole point of claiming that the matador’s profession is noble, making a better death for the bull than a hammer blow to the head, is that this claim is completely untrue. It’s just something we say to make ourselves feel better about being entertained. Or about being the entertainer, in this case.