Domino
is the latest hyper kinetic offering from director Tony Scott, and the best praise
I can offer up, is that the erratic, stylistic choices made to tell this story
of real life bounty hunter Domino Harvey don’t distract from the film as
they did in Man on Fire – they are the film.
Domino
Harvey was the daughter of actor Laurence Harvey (Manchurian Candidate). Although
she lived a life of great privilege and even made a living as a super model for
a while, like most super models became dissatisfied by the lavish lifestyle and
joined an elite gang of misfit bounty hunters. I'm sure it won't be long until
Paris Hilton chucks it all and goes after Bin Laden. In spite of the fiction that
was written in and around this film - Domino goes near the top of the “life
is stranger than fiction” file and let the record show that this woman and
her story are real and sadly she died just a few short months ago.
Domino
was written by Richard Kelly, one of the most innovative film makers working today.
While I wasn’t a huge fan of his Donnie Darko, I recognize and respect it’s
originality, and it’s clear that Mr. Kelly manages to deliver some pretty
fresh ideas in a rather unoriginal Hollywood. (I have to say this or the Boneman
would write it in himself - he loved Darko). Perhaps if Kelly would have directed
Domino as well, it would have been more worth recommending. At least we can look
forward to his upcoming Southland Tales.
Alas,
Tony Scott is the mastermind behind this big, loud, convoluted mess of a movie,
and rather than developing characters and plot points, he opts to bring this maelstrom
on so thick and thunderously that we nearly forget that there might be something
interesting to be found in this insane fusion of action, satire, politics and
general dysfunction.
There’s
so much going on in this picture that I don’t know where to begin. There
are scenes that are mildly funny on their own (including a crazy Jerry Springer
sequence featuring a expose on political correctness presented by a woman who
proclaims to be black-tino) but don’t seem to belong in the movie. There
are other scenes that should have been left out entirely (the desert sex scene
is virtually pointless, although it does afford Tony Scott the opportunity to
expose the Knightly Knockers). And yes, there is violence aplenty including an
explosive climax in Las Vegas’ Stratosphere hotel.
Star
Keira Knightly gives a ferocious, sexually charged but ultimately unconvincing
performance as young Domino Harvey, and to call this a role of depth would be
a gross exaggeration. The smaller roles prove to be far more vital to the overall
enjoyment of the picture (what little there is of it). Mickey Rourke continues
his streak of well played comeback performances (see his outstanding work in Sin
City). He’s extremely playful here, and the scene in which he intimidates
Beverly Hills 90210's Brian Austin Green is certainly one for the highlight reel.
Christopher Walken is a riot in an all too brief turn as a nutty producer who
hopes to turn Domino and her crew into the latest reality TV sensation. My favorite
bit though, involves a musician cameo of epic proportions (no Kyle, it isn’t
Michael McDonald). I won’t reveal the identity of this rather underground
rocker, but I will say that his religious inspired undertones are so wacked-out
bizarre, that I had to smile the entire time he was on screen.
Domino
might draw comparisons to a number of other pictures including Oliver Stone’s
Natural Born Killers and Scott’s own take on the Quentin Tarantino scripted
True Romance, but it doesn’t capture the satire of the first or the energy
of the latter. I have to admit, that the stylistic tone that Scott chooses to
use these days, doesn’t work for me. At the very least, the jump cuts, close
ups, shaky hand-held camera movements, and grainy textures that seep from every
frame of this film, don’t take away from the drama of the story (as they
constantly did in Man on Fire), because – let’s face it – there
is no drama.
Domino
lead a complicated, erratic life, so that’s how Scott shoots the movie. This
style is great for a five minute music video, but for a two hour plus movie, it’s
extremely irritating and hard on the central nervous system. It makes for a muddled,
maddening film experience which is sad, because I’m convinced that somewhere
buried deep within, is an intriguing story. And I’m willing to bet that Kelly’s
screenplay fleshes out many of the issues that seem to be lacking in Scott’s
take. For instance, this film is clearly implying that Domino Harvey wasn’t
happy with her home life, so she seeks solace in her new family (the bounty hunters).
This is an interesting conceit, but it’s incredibly underdeveloped making
the final moment between Domino and her mother absolutely laughable, when it’s
clear that this particular scene is shooting straight for the dramatic.
I
went into Domino with an extremely bad attitude. I thought the coming attraction
trailer was awful, and I’ve grown increasingly tired of Tony Scott’s
cinematic antics. Having said that, as the movie began, I was somewhat amused
and really wanted to like it. I applaud it for attempting something unique, but
in the end, it’s just a loud, hollow movie with a style that I can only hope
is a brief trend. I’m guilty of enjoying pictures that drown in puddles of
style (Sin City and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow just to name two) but
in the case of Domino, the style is so caustic that it practically dissolves the
pixels and everything else in it’s wake. Like Domino, some film makers tend
to fall down, and Tony Scott seems to be doing that a lot lately.
