“Domino” (New Line Cinema)
Domino Harvey was the daughter of actor Laurence Harvey. His big films were “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Room At the Top” and “Butterfield 8.” His daughter was a part-time model who eventually became a bounty hunter. With a life that unique, how could a movie about her life be so uninteresting Only director Tony Scott knows the answer to that question because he was the man in charge.
Keira Knightley is the actress chosen to portray Domino and that choice was a good one. Knightley is a beautiful young woman and she does possess solid acting skills. She gets into her character and adopts the haughty swagger the role needs, and spews out the constant profanity Domino speaks, with ease. But even she can’t stop the movie from being a train wreck.
The problem is in the way the story is presented. The film starts with Domino being interviewed by an FBI agent (Lucy Liu). She and her fellow bounty hunters, Ed and Choco (Mickey Rourke and Edgar Ramirez), have been involved in a multi million dollar heist. Now they are under investigation as to what happened to the money.
This leads to flashbacks that tell the story of Domino’s life. The jumps to the past and back to the present are so quick and snappy that the audience suffers from whiplash. They also suffer from a lack of cohesive information and that makes the story a muddled one.
It is stated early on that the movie is based on a true story – sort of. This allows the filmmakers to exaggerate what they want and be true to the story only when they chose. So who was Domino Harvey Who knows
The film, as photographed, has a yellow-green tinge to it. I don’t know how they did it or why they wanted to but that is how it is presented. This “tinge” makes all the colors in the film garish and cheap looking. And the characters look the same.
One of the bright spots of the movie is the performance of Mo’nique.” She plays a grandmother who needs a certain amount of cash to pay for an operation for her grandbaby. Her lover is Claremont Williams (Delroy Lindo), the bail bondsman for whom Domino and her crew work. Mo’nique is a unique looking actress and a unique acting one.
Two dull spots in the movie are the performances of Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering as themselves. The roles they play are caricatures and are not believable or enjoyable. Their participation in the film helps destroy any believability it has.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity, violence and nudity.
When you line up the silliness of the plot, the garish colors, the zip-zap photography, the dullness of Austin and Ziering, and just about everything else that can make a movie annoying – the entertainment ability of the film topples like a, well, line of dominos.
Domino Harvey lived fast and died young. Surely her life was deserving of a better presentation than this.
I scored “Domino” a toppled 3 out of 10.
