Domino (2005)

Director: Tony Scott
Format: DVD
DVD Features: trailer, commentary, deleted scenes, featurette
Starring: Kiera Knightly, Mickey Rourke, Christoper Walken, Edgar Ramirez
Trailer

One of the taglines for this movie is, “Based on a true story. Sort of.” The real Domino Harvey was the daughter of actor Laurence Harvey and model Paulene Stone. She ran a nightclub in London, was a volunteer firefighter, was arrested on drug-related charges and died while Tony Scott’s film was being made. If you watch Domino clear through to the credits, you will catch a glimpse of the real woman. You might also spy her cameo in the movie Constantine. But if you notice the real Domino Harvey in either of those instances, you might notice something else….She doesn’t look a thing like Keira Knightley.

Domino the movie focuses mainly on Harvey’s career as a bounty hunter. We are introduced to her life story via her interrogation by FBI agent Taryn Miles (Lucy Liu), who is questioning her about her latest caper. Always the rebellious, weapon wielding misfit, Domino never felt suited to her life growing up in her Hollywood high-society surroundings. After college, she briefly took on the runway as a fashion model, but didn’t take to that any more fondly. Then came the day she discovered a course on bounty hunting and signed up to learn a thing or two from Ed Mosbey (Mickey Rourke). After convincing him that “bail recovery” was her true calling, she teamed up with Mosbey and his fellow agent Choco (Edgar Ramirez). Before long, the threesome attract the attention of reality show producer Mark Heiss (Christopher Walken), who wants to follow them into action. When things get messy with the mob, Ed, Domino and Choco feel the heat.

I wouldn’t classify Keira Knightly as a bad actress. However, she’s much more believeable as depressed alcoholic Jackie Price in The Jacket than she is as a gritty, thrill seeking bounty hunter. I was never quite convinced of her character in this movie, the act was just too transparent. Rourke has been playing the grizzled bounty hunter role, or something close to it, for a long time now. So, it wasn’t refreshing or different to see him in Domino. Despite the addition of Walken, Macy Gray, Tom Waits and even Jerry Springer to the cast, the film was terribly boring. Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green, formerly of the television show Beverly Hills 90210, appear as themselves and provide comic example of how whitewashed and stale Hollywood has become. It’s almost amusing, but I think that’s just because I’ve always wanted to see the two of them get beat up.

For a man with a resume that includes Top Gun, True Romance and The Hunger, I expected far more out of Tony Scott. The action is so choppy and the cuts are so random and frequent that it’s hard to tolerate at times. Because that type of technique has become the trend in action films these days, Domino comes off as neither exciting nor innovative, just annoying and trite. The diced up storyline doesn’t work magic either. From reading what little I have about the real Domino Harvey, it seems a shame that the last movie made about her life ended up being so much less entertaining than her actual exploits were.

Basically, I wouldn’t recommend buying Domino. I wouldn’t recommend renting Domino. I wouldn’t even recommend pausing in front of the DVD player if someone else was watching Domino. Unless you’re a die hard Keira Knightley fanatic (and even then it’s barely justifiable)stay well away from this boring film. Even the website sucks.

Overall Rating: 2
Hottie Rating: 3 (for sexual tension between Choco and Domino)

Alternate viewing: True Romance
Official site
IMDB site
Reel.com review

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