Domino (2005) [Blu-ray]
Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Domino Harvey: movie star's kid, hottie model, badass Bounty Hunter of the Year. A story like this can't be made up. But in the creative hands of director Tony Scott, it can be turned into a rolling fever of a movie thrill ride. Keira Knightley powerfully plays against type as the bane of bail jumpers. Are those handcuffs a fashionista accessory? Think again. Will a lap dance turn a hair-trigger showdown into a collar? She's your girl. Wonder if she'll use that weapon? You're going down. Searing, sexy Domino is one the case.

Storyline: The daughter of an actor father and a social-climber mother, Domino Harvey, bored with her life, decides to join the team of Ed Moseby and becomes a bounty hunter. But she gets in trouble when the Mafia's money is stolen from an armored truck, while Moseby and his crew are participating in a reality show produced by Mark Heiss. The situation gets out of control when the sons of a rival mobster are kidnapped while the FBI is monitoring two gangs of mobsters. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

User Comment: (themoviemark@themoviemark.com) from http://www.themoviemark.com, 22 November 2005 • 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.

Summary: A little editing would've been nice.

[CSW] -3- I really had mixed emotions about this film. It was very unconventional and at times a but confusing because it was not told linearly and had quite a twisted plot line that I felt wasn't completely necessary. You will just have to rent and watch it although I doubt you will want to watch it a second time.
[V4.5-A4.5] VC-1 - No D-Box.

º º