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The plot of The Matador is actually simple and not too original, but is told so stylishly well by director/writer Richard Shepard that it comes off as strikingly new. It is a tried and true formula that matches a naive, often younger, “goodie-two-shoes” kind of guy with a world-wise, often older, vulgar and libertine kind of guy. The two interact, share an adventure, learn a lot from each other, and ultimately go their own ways, all the better from their special relationship. It has been the basis of many a TV sitcom episode. Think of the classic times that Opie Taylor, Beaver Cleaver, or even Ralph Cramden had a remarkable friendship with a strange, new, oft-delinquent, social outcast. The entire The Odd Couple series is actually based on this formula.

Even though well into his 50's, Brosnan, in The Matador exudes a relaxed, sexual charm, punctuated by testy attitude and danger, that I daresay is more alluring than any of his previous, over-manicured versions of manliness. His new, ever-present five o'clock shadow, 70's era “Bruno” mustache, and tousled, slept-on hair offers a certain je ne sais quoi aura of masculine cad and scoundrel that, in short - is hot in real trashy way.

His is a character that more worldly gays may know well – that kind of loner guy who, if at least by virtue of his many inhibition-freeing vices, regularly allows his sexual appetites to, shall we say, experiment. Noble is the bisexual who shows up blind-drunk at pick-up bars, back alleys or any other site that presents the chance for no-strings, anonymous encounters with whatever is sexually available.

As a bona fide Hollywood matinee idol, Pierce Brosnan has always been popular with gays. His resume can boast of several “sexiest man of the year” type fan awards. Although a “confirmed” heterosexual, Brosnan's biography, Pierce Brosnan: The Biography, Pierce apparently spent some of his teenage years thinking that he was gay. He allegedly admits, as quoted in the book: "I was young, frivolous and full of abandon - a hippie with long hair down to my shoulders and a little goatee beard. Why? Because I thought I was gay."

The book's author continues, “His confusion resulted in a series of flop relationships as a teenager, as a young Pierce secretly struggled to come to terms with his sexuality”.

Whatever his own true orientation is, Brosnan at least offers a friendly view towards gays in this exchange on the internet's Starboards fan website:

From toddster: I am wondering how you, a family man, feel about having amorous gay male fans, as well as the many women who admire you?
PB: You know, it's really a shame that the expression "some of my best friends are..." has become such a cliché and such a symbol of insincerity. But I'm very proud that my friends are a varied bunch, drawn from every background and orientation. I'm not very good with stereotypes. I tend to take people as individuals. Gay people have enriched our arts, our world, and the friendship of some gay people has enriched my life.

And again in a 2002 interview with Ingrid Sischy:

Sischy: Did you go to art school?
PB: I went to night school. I got a job designing in an art department, doing furniture illustration for the newspapers, and then in the evening I'd go to life-drawing classes. Then when I was 17 or 18, a guy invited me to an (acting) art lab called the Oval House Theatre. Suddenly I found myself with writers and poets and black people, gay people, musicians and acrobats--it was a cross-section of people. Lovely, beautiful, mangled people. And I thought, At last--

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