If one must conform to your much narrower criteria for film discussion, then one must. So be it. Movies of 2005.

As I previously mentioned before using a "2005" movie (in the same post that you complained about discussing movies of other years) and that you used in your own review, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang, you described this movie wittier. Thus, it I would assume that you judged this movie better than The Matador. So let's start with Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang and ignore that in your own review you somehow allow mention of plot twists comparisons to The Grifters (1990), Five Queens (year unknown, not listed with the Internet Film Database), and The Spanish Prisoner (1997).

What Chris found wittier in Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang I found overly dramatic, contrived, and manipulative that drew me away from this dark comedy. Nor were the characters were not particularly appealing nor really all that authentic. What was impressive in The Matador was the particularly successful twists, not just one or two of them, but three of them that provided a refreshing, different, and challenging way to end a movie, unlike Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang that seemed to end with one twist that wasn't that unique or different. Chris found much to compliment and like about this movie according to his review:

"both Kinnear and Brosnan perform with confidence"
"the former James Bond playing this down-market version of 007 and doing it convincingly and with a flourish."
"Not surprisingly Kinnear is believable as a good-guy schlub."

What Chris has problems in his opinion is with the crude, story-board screenplay's conceptions of the action, neither character is given any depth. "The hitman is by definition empty inside." Chris wanted to see the action leading to "full moral compromise."

What Chris has problems with are the very features that make this movie so believably refreshing and authentic and one of the best of the year. Like another movie that was hotly debated in another year due to its minimalist approach to character and plot development, Lost In Translation (2003), The Matador doesn't have to rely on the deep, complexity of the soul but sticks to the real mental issues that in many ways we the ordinary audience and perhaps many others face day to day. This is the real deal, not some multi-sessioned psycho-dynamic analysis 2-hour style that leads to a "full moral compromise." Instead what he get is a more American version of a satisfying resolution that is optimistic rather than conflicted and morose. Sometimes, it's nice to avoid the deeper issues of paranoia, conspiracy theory, social issues and just plain deal with communication, mid-life crises, and plain human emotions that we can all relate to. That's what makes this movie one of the best, because it really connects in an unusual way to more universal, basic live issues that we as people confront everyday, except we don't go around shooting people for money, but sometimes we do things that we can easily relate to in this movie.