Domino (2005)

The DOMINO has FALLEN!

If this film had not claimed it was based "on a true story...sort of" right at the opening, I would have thought it's faily entertaining.

It became a bad joke when one person had his whole right arm shot off by one of Domino fellow bounty hunters. Yet, he's still able to shout loudly to his mother asking her to give the hunters the money! There are quite a few nonsense scenes like that.

There is a lot of shooting and action. If you're watching it for facts, you'll be disappointed. If you want entertainment, it will help a little bit. Overall, it's disappointing. September 20, 2008

The DVD Is Currently Selling For 19 Cents

Hack Director Alert

Back in 1968, at the height of his "Star Trek" celebrity, William Shatner got way too full of himself and released a record album called "The Transformed Man". It was not music in the normal sense but rather Shatner's dramatic reading of some vaguely classic literary passages set to unusual music. Two tracks were actual songs, "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man", with Shatner dramatically reading the lyrics in his standard "chewing the scenery" manic-depressive acting style. This album is stylistically the most pompous collection in the history of sound recording. But what makes it such a prime mock fest candidate (you truly will laugh until it hurts the first time you hear either of the songs) is the total disconnect between Shatner's intensity (full of sound and fury) and the rather pedestrian lyrics (signifying nothing).

I think Shatner was sincere and not simply a victim of substance abuse, although he might have benefited from a bit of sedation. This is what happens when you OD on your own delusions of grandeur.

Which brings us to Tony Scott and his 2005 film "Domino", the first film to approach the mockfest potential of Shatner's album, and for an identical reason; the staggering capacity of hack director Scott for self-delusion. You only need examine one of the DVD's special features, the pretentiously titled "Bounty Hunting on Acid: Tony Scott's Visual Style". This featurette details how, like Shatner 37 years earlier, Scott suffers from a total reality disconnect and views himself as a stylistic successor to Welles and Fellini. And like the mismatch between Shatner's intensity and the quality of his material, Scott's freeze-frames, stuttering slo-mo, fast-forwards, filters, strobes, 360-degree pans, and jump cut splits simply call attention to the shallow storyline and moronic dialogue of this lame (but unintentionally hilarious) feature.

Very "loosely" based on the life of poor little rich girl Domino Harvey, the bounty hunting daughter of actor Laurence Harvey, the film generates its best laughs if viewed as the second part of a compare/contrast double bill with the 2005 version of "Pride and Prejudice". That is because both feature Kiera Knightley. The comparisons showcase Scott's staggering lack of acting for the camera directing ability. And the lines poor Kiera must say in Domino's voice-over commentary have a vague Jane Austen flavor, like something she would have written during the last stages of Mad Cow Disease. You listen and you feel yourself getting stupider.

Poor Kiera hasn't looked this silly since "King Arthur", where she also unconvincingly played a bratty tough-talking tomboy with clenched jaw and dour expression.

The most appropriate comment I have discovered about the film is that: "It wants your admiration desperately, like a psychedelic one-trick pony mad for a carrot". About the only favorable thing I can say is that "Domino" reminded me a tiny bit of Antonioni's "Zabriskie Point" (1970). Of course he did it first and he did it a lot better and it was burdened with far less silly nonsense.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child. August 28, 2008

Domino

Not fun to watch. This entire film is shot in 1 to 4 second time frames (fast, up close, and out of focus) just like a stupid TV crime drama, which I freakin' hate. SUCKED!!! August 24, 2008

Fully equipped with the attention span of a ferret on crystal meth...

When I first saw `Domino' I was in love. I must admit that I adore Tony Scott's directing style. I remember when I first saw `Man on Fire', I was just blown away by the way Scott could capture your attention so effortlessly. I am a huge fan of his brother Ridley (one of our finest working directors) and while I feel Ridley is the finer director, Tony is working his way up their on his own terms. So to get back to my initial statement, when I first saw `Domino' I was smitten, or in love, whatever I said at first. Upon repeated viewings though, I have found that the film, while fun and explosive and utterly irresistible, is not without flaws; quite a few to be honest.

`Domino' tells the fictionalized story of real life bounty hunter Domino Harvey. Former model and daughter of a famous actor, Domino lived a life of prestige and glamour but she desired something a little more gritty. She resented her money and prominence and wanted to escape it as quickly as possible. When by chance she received an opportunity to do so, she took it, and thus joined bounty hunters Ed and Choco.

Quite possibly the only part of this movie that is true is the fact that Domino Harvey was a real person. More of the story could be based on actual events (I use the word `could' strongly here) but it really doesn't matter much. Whether it's true or not is not the issue. Even the film itself tells you before it begins that this is `sort of' the truth, and we as the audience can appreciate that. This is a way for Scott to pay homage to a friend and he does so with guts and bravado. There is no denying that `Domino' is an exciting visual feast and delivers a good time.

There is a problem though with the manic style in which Scott tells this story. It may not be true, but it should still at least be understandable, and while I'm not saying that the story is impossible to `get' I am saying that it takes a lot out of you to follow it coherently. The film is all over place in most parts, jumping time frames, repeating itself, stuttering, changing direction, jumping back, shifting focus; delivering large amounts of information at once and then going back and changing its mind on us. If you focus your attention you'll get it, but if you are not one who is used to having to really pay close attention you'll find yourself lost, and once you're lost you won't be able to find your way back. `Man on Fire' is a little more controlled, a film that uses the visual flare Tony Scott is known for but with restraint so as not to take away from the impact of the film.

To quote Mena Suvari's character; this film "has the attention span of a ferret on crystal meth."

The plot development is a little overly complicated at times, so much so that it causes me to question Scott's decision to simplify Domino's initiation into the world of bounty hunting. He takes a lot of time to develop this twisted and intricate DMV scam but skimps on showing us how Domino became the bounty hunter that she was (I highly doubt it was as easy as the film makes it seem).

A major highlight to the film though is the acting on the part of the entire cast. Keira Knightley and Mickey Rourke had a great year in 2005. They both gave award winning performances (Knightley in `Pride and Prejudice' and Rourke in `Sin City'), and Knightley even went on to garner an Oscar nomination. Here they excel at playing the character they are given. Knightley gives Harvey heart, and she manages to engage the audience and get us invested in her. Rourke creates a father figure for Domino, but never waters him down. He's still rough and gruff and extreme. Edgar Ramirez does a great job as Choco, the bounty hunter after Domino's heart, and Delroy Lindo is his usual fantastic self as Claremont, Domino's boss. The cast is extensive and serves us memorable performances by everyone from Mo'Nique (her Jerry Springer scene alone is unforgettable) to 90210 stars Ziering and Green (who do a stand up job of digging into their own celebrity).

True, `Domino' could have been a little cleaner, but then again, maybe that would have taken away from the impact Scott was going for. I would have liked to have seen Scott use a little more restraint with his style and delivered something a little more heavy hitting like `Man on Fire' (possibly his best film) and I would have liked to have seem a little more though gone into fleshing out these characters a little morel; but in the end I can't really complain too much. `Domino' is fun and exciting and engaging and serves up a deliciously violent good time. It's not perfect, but no one asked it to be. June 23, 2008

A movie that tries to be too many things at one time!

This movie doesn't do it for me. The main problem is that too many genres are involved in this DVD. At times it seems like the producers are trying to mix action, thriller, and gangster movie scenes into this movie, which give the viewer the idea that this movie can't make up its mind about what it really wants to be! Also the story seemed to be too contrived for my taste, and was thus not convincing, especially with a female bounty hunter playing the protagonist. May 13, 2008

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