Domino (2005)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Tony Scott

Writers (WGA):

Richard Kelly (screenplay)
Richard Kelly (story) ...

Release Date:

14 October 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

I Am a Bounty Hunter

Plot:

A recounting of Domino Harvey's life story. The daughter of actor Laurence Harvey turned away from her career as a Ford model to become a bounty hunter.

Plot Keywords:

Nunchaku | Afghanistan | Narration | Porno Video | Model

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Keira Knightley	...	Domino Harvey
Mickey Rourke	...	Ed Mosbey
Édgar Ramírez	...	Choco
Riz Abbasi	...	Alf (as Rizwan Abbasi)
Delroy Lindo	...	Claremont Williams
Mo'Nique	...	Lateesha Rodriguez
Ian Ziering	...	Himself
Brian Austin Green	...	Himself
Joe Nunez	...	Raul (as Joseph Nunez)
Macy Gray	...	Lashandra Davis
Shondrella Avery	...	Lashindra Davis
Dabney Coleman	...	Drake Bishop
Peter Jacobson	...	Burke Beckett
Kel O'Neill	...	Francis
Lucy Liu	...	Taryn Miles

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content/nudity and drug use.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:16 | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 (cut) | Singapore:M18 | Japan:R-15 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:16 | Finland:K-15 | Indonesia:Dewasa | Brazil:18 | Czech Republic:15 | Philippines:R-13 | Sweden:11 | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | France:-12 | USA:R (certificate #41701) | Norway:15 | Denmark:15 | South Africa:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Argentina:16 | Hungary:16 | Italy:T | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | New Zealand:R16

Filming Locations:

Alexandria Hotel - 501 S. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Jacqueline Bisset, who plays Domino's mother (renamed Sophie Wynn in the film), actually knew Domino Harvey's real life mother Paulene Stone. They knew each other from their time as models and had worked together.

Goofs:

Continuity: The shrunken skulls on the Winnebago that feature prominently in the beginning are missing in later shots leading up to the crash in the desert.

Quotes:

Domino Harvey: [voiceover] I could feel the blood coursing through my veins. Shotgun in hand, kicking down a door and wondering if there was heavy firepower on the other side.

Movie Connections:

References Full Metal Jacket (1987)

Soundtrack:

Jesus Gonna Be Here

You'll love it or hate it – it's a stylistic thing

My name is Domino Harvery. {EDIT *dizzying* CHOP} My--my--my name is Domino Harvey. {CUT, CHOP} My name is Domino Harvey. {EDIT. CUT. Playback}

Never have I seen a director take so much flack for his style before. By now it is evident that most people do not appreciate Tony Scott's choppy, flashy, dizzying editing technique. If I have to choose between loving it and hating it, I'd say I love it. It was borderline distracting at times, but the end result was pretty good and it's nice to see a director with a creative edge to his style and some originality (even if it borrows heavily from MTV videos).

This stylistic edge manifests itself as Keira Knightley plays the role of cocky badass bounty hunter Domino Harvey and even her dialogue seems strangely choppy. Otherwise she plays her poorly because I pretty much hated her character and did not sympathize one bit with her, no matter how much she suffered. We follow Domino through her life as she joins up with fellow bounty hunters Mickey Rourke, Rizwan Abbasi and Edgar Ramirez. The crew become tangled up in the FBI and suddenly has a reality show contract under Christopher Walken's TV production company (what is Christopher Walken doing in every film, by the way?). I guess that is a clever film technique, because now Tony Scott is free to use as much flashy MTV/Reality Show editing footage as he likes. It becomes a pastiche of MTV culture at this point.

It followes then that the story is told at an amazingly rapid-fire pace, with lots of raunchy strong language and gun violence. There are some funny jokes; it's all very modern and surreal at the same time. It's a mess, but it's a rather enjoyable mess. It is ultimately flawed in so many ways (the actors try too hard to make their characters "cool", for one) but it works. I give it a weak 7/10 which may seem generous when compared to the general consensus of movie-goers who graded this film — but I feel it had some good ideas and executed them well.

7 out of 10