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"Oh No, Domino!" "Domino"
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| Thank you for smoking! Keira Knightley lights up the screen in "Domino" |
Domino Harvey lived fast and died young. On June 27, 2005, the model-turned-bounty hunter was found dead in her West Hollywood home, the victim of an apparent drug overdose. She was just 35.
It was a tragic death to a fascinating life, but it was mind-boggling too. After all, how could such a beautiful young woman turn her back on her posh upbringing to embrace such a dangerous, unconventional lifestyle that ultimately got the best of her?
The answer to that question would have made a great movie, but sadly, “Domino” isn’t it. In fact, it doesn’t even come close. That’s because director Tony Scott has chosen to ignore the more engaging aspects of this intriguing character study to instead focus on a convoluted, hyper-violent and very much fictionalized heist-gone-wrong that we’ve seen before in countless other films (especially 1993’s “True Romance,” which Scott himself directed).
It also doesn’t help that Scott manipulates every single frame to the point where it becomes an assault on the senses. The gritty, saturated cinematography that he utilized in 2001’s “Spy Game” and last year’s under-rated “Man on Fire” has been taken to an overwhelming level here, and not even the presence of Keira Knightley in her first bad-ass role can save “Domino” from being a hyper-kinetic mess.
Born to “Manchurian Candidate” actor Laurence Harvey and supermodel Paulene Stone, Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley) lived a privileged, high society lifestyle that she was not comfortable with. Seeking an outlet for her thirst for excitement, the tough, rebellious Domino found her true calling when she attended a recruitment seminar for aspiring bounty hunters (who knew they had such things?).
With the help of her formidable boss (Mickey Rourke, in a role he seems way too comfortable playing) and a rugged colleague (Edgar Ramirez) who worships her, she quickly becomes one of the top bounty hunters in Los Angeles. But their exciting profession takes a turn for the worst when they get mixed up in an elaborate scheme to help save their boss (Delroy Lindo) from financial ruin. Domino has to use her street smarts to get out of this mess, because nothing will stop her from living the life she was meant to live, no matter how long she can live it.
Why Domino decided to become a bounty hunter in the first place is never really answered, leaving the film to tell – in a muddled, conventional flashback – how their biggest job went so horribly wrong. The added subplot involving the filming of their exploits by a reality TV production – hosted by “Beverly Hills 90210” has-beens Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green, “graciously” playing themselves – adds some relevancy to today’s media-obsessed society, but whatever statement Scott was trying to make here gets smothered by his overpowering direction.
The fact that the real Domino Harvey died so close to the release of this movie is either the sickest case of irony or the most extreme publicity stunt since Stanley Kubrick’s death just before the release of “Eyes Wide Shut” in 1999. Either way, the film doesn’t do her justice, for it merely ends up being a cross between “True Romance” and Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers,” which the world really didn’t need. And that’s hardly an appropriate tribute for a lost soul who lived so fast and died so young.
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© Scott Mantz - Scott's Movie Reviews
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