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:

Bounty Hunter | FBI | Mafia | Model | Traffic Accident

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Keira Knightley	...	Domino Harvey
Mickey Rourke	...	Ed Moseby
Édgar Ramírez	...	Choco (as Edgar Ramirez)
Delroy Lindo	...	Claremont Williams
Mo'Nique	...	Lateesha Rodriguez
Mena Suvari	...	Kimmie
Macy Gray	...	Lashandra Davis
Jacqueline Bisset	...	Sophie Wynn
Dabney Coleman	...	Drake Bishop
Brian Austin Green	...	Himself
Ian Ziering	...	Himself
Stanley Kamel	...	Anthony Cigliutti
Peter Jacobson	...	Burke Beckett
T.K. Carter	...	Lester Kincaid
Kel O'Neill	...	Frances

Also Known As:

Domino (France)

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:15 | Germany:16 | Iceland:16 | France:-12 | USA:R (NO. 41704) | Denmark:15 | Norway:15 | South Africa:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) (Canadian Home Video rating) | 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:

Mickey Rourke initially turned down the role of Ed as he felt the script was weak and wanted to take part in Guy Ritchie's Revolver (2005/I), which was shooting at the same time. However, he gave in when director Tony Scott re-wrote the part with Rourke specifically in mind.

Goofs:

Continuity: At Laurence Harvey's funeral, Domino is holding and smelling a rose. In the next few frames the stem of the rose she's holding is actually a tulip stem and leaves. Then we cut back to Domino throwing a rose onto her father's casket.

Quotes:

Domino Harvey: I saved her... And when she is older, a woman named Domino will tell her that there is only one conclusion to every story... We all fall down.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs "The Jerry Springer Show" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Got Answers

A little editing would've been nice.

My reaction to Domino is about as mixed as the mixed race flowchart that Mo'Nique presents on The Jerry Springer Show during the movie (I know, that doesn't make much sense unless you've seen the movie). I dare you to not laugh once she starts introducing terms such as Blacktino, Chinegro, and Japanic. I suppose if you suck at the teat of political correctness then you might not get the joke, but otherwise it's one of the funnier scenes in the movie (the running 90210 joke being the funniest). At this point you're probably wondering what in the world Mo'Nique, Jerry Springer, mixed flow charts, and 90210 have to do with a movie about bounty hunters. It's a legit question. All I can say is welcome to the unconventionalism that is Domino.

I didn't mind the fact that this isn't very conventional, but at times it does feel a little convoluted. By the end of the movie I was pretty clear regarding what was going on, unlike the 'tard in front of me who couldn't decipher the concept of flashbacks, but the script does feel unnecessarily complex. Yeah, the movie kept my interest and is fairly entertaining, but it was just begging for tighter editing. Trimming about 20 minutes would've made the story stronger and the narrative more fluent. My guess is that Scott was experimenting and just couldn't bear to get rid of anything (Tom Waits' cameo especially felt unnecessary).

Tony Scott's made a movie that appears to be something he and his friends could most enjoy while under the influence of substances of a dubious nature. I can deal with the frantic pacing, the quick camera cuts, and the strange coloring, but is it really necessary to show characters saying the same line multiple times from different angles? Sometimes it's all just a little too weird for the sake of being weird.

One of my biggest complaints is that we mainly know that Domino is a bounty hunter because she tells us about 24 times in her narration, which starts to grate on the nerves after a while. I would've preferred to see a little more focus on, you know, her actual bounty hunting. SHOW us why she was a really good bounty hunter; don't just tell us over and over. I was expecting some really cool scenes with Mickey Rourke and Keira hunting down their bounty, showcasing the technical side of the hunt, and wrapping it all up with cool, tough-guy (and girl) bounty hunter stuff. Maybe a little sniping here, a vicious beat down there. Sadly, it never came.

Do I remind everybody that I'm a reviewer by pointing out in every single review that, "I'm Johnny Betts. I'm a movie reviewer"? No, I do my job and show you what it is that makes me a movie reviewer!

"By writing crappy reviews, Johnny?"

Uh, well, I guess we all get mixed reactions sometimes.