johnny knoxville stars as a failed actor, who, with the advice of his uncle (brian cox), enters the special olympics to pay for his friend's surgery.

you know, the teaser for this farrelly brothers vehicle looked pretty funny. in the end, instead of having a lighthearted picture, it's just a sad portrayal of sad characters. they had two routes they could have gone down that would have redeemed this picture. the blazing saddles route, taking something absurd like racism and brutally portraying it through courageous parody, or the sorority boys angle; dress them up and make it a silly slapstick clichefest. they neglected both, neither offending or making anyone laugh. if you are going to pick a topic such as this, you have to either go all out and make it terribly offensive but scathingly truthful, or just make it a national lampoon-esque affair, with plenty of fake penis humour, and constant use of the word "retard". when you spend one half of the movie dealing with the potentially hilarious plot, and the other trying like hell to dignify all mentally challenged people, you cross wires and blow a fuse. basically, this movie is a trainwreck that you can definitely turn away from, because trust me, it's really slow...

verdict: forget about this one. south park did it way better.




pierce brosnan is an aging high profile contract killer, losing his edge. he meets a normal man (greg kinnear) who becomes his only freind.

i knew from the previews that i would like this one. it slipped past me, and i only recently learned of it through the tv spots. bond, james bond, is a hitman. he's having a nervous breakdown. he runs into greg kinnear (i swear, if i meet him i'll probably hit him) and slowly, awkwardly befriends him. when pierce fails a hit in budapest, the higher ups decide he has reached the end of his usefullness. i won't ruin the rest, but suffice to say, the ending caught me by surprise. the film is soaked with style, sort of like another favorite of mine, layer cake. the difference, and my only disappointment with the matador, is the tempo. everything happens almost painfully slowly. it's like watching a really good old movie. you don't want to fall asleep, because you know it's great. it just takes soooo long.

verdict: definitely worth a rent. just make sure you don't recline.