Directed by:
Tony ScottScreenplay:
Richard KellyCinematography:
Dan MindelComposer:
Harry Gregson-WilliamsCast:
Keira Knightley, Mena Suvari, Edgar Ramirez, Mickey Rourke, Jacqueline Bisset, Christopher Walken, Delroy Lindo, Lucy Liu, Mo'Nique, Macy Gray (more)Plots(1)
Unfolding in a nonlinear fashion as a bloodied Domino (Kiera Knightley) is interrogated by iron-faced Officer Taryn Miles (Lucy Liu), the film traces the trajectory of Domino's tumultuous life. Beginning with the death of her beloved father, the actor Laurence Harvey, Domino develops into a hard-nosed, scrappy young woman who trains with nunchucks beside her mother's luxurious pool and responds violently to anyone who crosses her. Bored with the runway and the glamorous LA life, Domino shows up for a bounty-hunter seminar. Catching the "teachers" of the seminar as they try to cut and run with the proceeds, she manages to win their respect and joins their team. This consists of Ed Mosbey (Mickey Rourke), the tough-as-nails leader and Domino's surrogate father, and Choco (Edgar Ramirez), an impulsive Venezuelan who harbors a not-so-secret love for Domino. The three form a kind of family, working under Claremont Williams (Delroy Lindo), who "plays Charlie to their three angels." For a time they are unstoppable, even agreeing to let the slimy Mark Heiss (Christopher Walken) produce a reality-TV show about them, which is hilariously hosted by Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green. But when Claremont orchestrates a complicated inside job in order to raise the money for his granddaughter's doctor bills, the precarious balance within the trio is disturbed. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (8)
Domino is certainly like its empty trailer, but stretched out to a two-hour runtime. It is such a chaotic, visually self-obsessed and, in that context, inordinately long movie that I have no interest in even going over what happens in it (which is what the filmmakers require you to do!). However, it is saved from being a complete fiasco by decent casting and a fair amount of humor.
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It’s about three and a half. Unfortunately, the very decent script, the surprisingly believable Knightley and the unearthly badass Rourke are ruined by Scott's mania over his video clip skills, overuse of colourful fitters and a hyperactive editor's hand. Had it been put into the hands of a slightly more artful filmmaker, it would have been a little great film.
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... alternative title: How I Became an Epileptic and Had a Great Time into the Bargain. Tony Scott decided to make a two-hour-long music video. And he did a splendid job. Stylized to the brink of tolerability, but luckily not over it. If it were sensitively cut (in length, not in terms of editing as such), the result could have been even better.
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Under different circumstances, I would be willing to watch Keira Knightley even in unintelligible nonsense, but unfortunately, this one fails in every way possible. The situation it portrays is unbelievable, the camera shots are unbelievable, and due to its nonsensically exaggerated stylization, it even looks unbelievable. Nor did Tony Scott hit the mark when it comes to the criticism of his excessive visual softness (meaning the occasional rational editing) in Man on Fire. Shaky camera and plenty of filters or zooms are great ideas, but for me, it's an unwelcome novelty to have my eyes hurt even while looking at a goldfish. If it wasn't for Christopher Walken, I would have rated this even lower, because this is not the hit that was promised but a fit of awkwardness, which only makes me shake my head and fail to understand the claim of postmodernism.
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In his crowning achievement, Tony Scott crafted a crazy story inspired by the wild life of a real-life bounty hunter as an impressive trip that induces in the audience a heightened perception of the over-the-top narrative. With variable shooting speeds, an unusual process of developing material, an epileptically roaming camera and frenetic editing, Scott transforms the movie screen into a kinetic image in which the structure and matter of the film become visible and tangible. Richly coloured shots stacked on top of each other and camera movements become the equivalents of massive coats of paint and brushstrokes, alternately evoking the paintings of the Fauvists, Futurists and German Expressionists.
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Tony is a hardcore experimenter and Domino is a perfect example of this fact. The overall concept and storytelling are as opposed to “regular" movies completely turned inside out and the world chaos gains a new dimension here (although after watching it a second time you will have no problems in following it). You have to focus all the time otherwise you can easily get lost at the end of the story. But it’s all wrapped up in damn entertaining packaging. Keira was the best possible choice for the role of Domino and, even if at places a bit over the top, she demonstrated that she can do “nice bitch" better than anybody else. And well whenever Mickey Rourke in his comeback appeared on the screen he managed to steal the show. And the verdict? A funny movie, in places a bit over the top, but well worthy of greater attention.
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I really like Tony Scott's epileptic editing and camera filters, in a way, I would even call him a pioneer in the field, but Domino is so unattractive, inconsistent, distant, and cold in its content that unfortunately I didn't enjoy it. Keira Knightley can be the fiercest, visually the film can be the wildest, but it still feels like a confusing bedtime story. The action is minimal and when it does happen, it is formally over-the-top to such an extent that it may be incredibly cool, but it is extremely difficult to extract anything from it. The music is clearly a repetition of Man on Fire, and those who didn't notice should let their ears be blown off. The story of a bounty hunter simply lacks the necessary juice in terms of plot, even though it is a visually wild and a top-notch raw, messy, unrestrained carnage.
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Domino Harvey was the daughter of Laurence Harvey, a well-known American actor who unfortunately died too soon to raise the girl. She was only four years old at the time. Domino didn't have an easy childhood, she became a bit of a rebel, which eventually led her to become a bounty hunter. You wouldn't think so by looking at her. When you see her, she looks like a fragile girl. Keira Knightley, to be honest, is not far from the real Domino, so in that sense, you can believe it. However, the fragile girl is definitely not fragile at all, she handles weapons excellently and is not afraid to use them. She wants to become a bounty hunter, so she teams up with Mickey Rourke, who plays a legend in the field of bounty hunting. Together with his partner Choco, they become a formidable team. They get involved in an operation that goes terribly wrong. Most of the film is then the testimony given by Domino to the investigator played by Lucy Liu. Tony Scott, who was a personal friend of Domino Harvey, shot the film at a crazy pace, with fast editing and undoubtedly too long for the action pace to hold up the entire time, or rather for the viewer to endure it. Thanks to the music, which is at times unbelievably annoying, the film shatters before your eyes, and it doesn't help that it's just a sequence of action scenes that are not actually that action-packed. Some shots are repeated as Domino tells her story, which also doesn't help the film. So, in reality, we are watching the lives of three people, at least two of whom don't really know what they want. They go from one action to another, but what happens in between is just filler in which they struggle. Their lives are not easy, but they don't make it any easier for themselves. The film definitely tells the story of an interesting fate of a woman who eventually died too young at the age of not yet reaching thirty-six. Her death is not portrayed in the film, it happened later, but it's not surprising that it was caused by drugs and her addiction. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/10/prach-uspesna-pokracovani-animaku.html
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