I spent the afternoon blowing off work and seeing a movie with my friend Ryan. Ryan is a movie guy. Literally. Went to film school. Interned on the set of X-Men. Does film work for church and is a partner in a film production company. It’s become our new tradition to see a matinee on Fridays.
Domino
Starring: Keira Knightly (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Jacket), Lucy Lui, Mickey Roucke, Christopher Walken, Ian Zaring (its EYE-an not EE-an damnit) and Brian Austin Green as themselves (lovely parts), and a lovely and haunting appearance by Tom Waits (that alone made it worthwhile for me).
Directed: Tony Scott (Man on Fire, The Fan and yes Top Gun)
Rating: ★★★ 1/2
The movie centers around Domino Harvey, a bounty hunter (who is in fact a real bounty hunter, who died of an overdose after the filming of the movie) and forays into the journey of how she came to her vocation via the stylized, jump-cut visually stunning and jarring direction of Tony Scott.
Harvey is a stoic, tough girl with a chip on her shoulder, but just enough softness and compassion to have sympathy and care for the character. She had a Hollywood glamor, boarding school, fashion model privileged upbringing — which bored her to tears (or rather, mischief and violence). Her Hollywood father dies when she is a girl, and soon after her goldfish, wherein she vows to never again love someone. Failed attempts and fitting in lead her to a fringe lifestyle and ultimately to bounty hunting.
She comes across Ed, a bounty hunter (based real life bounty hunter Zeke Unger; but more resembles the reality TV bounty hunter star on Duane ”Dog” Chapman), who is giving a “seminar” on the tricks of the trade. The seminar is in fact a heist, which Domino stumbles across (by being at the right place at the right time) and directly into Ed and his partner Choco’s path and enters the world of bounty hunting. She has a natural affinity for it, smarts, beauty and a simple belief — heads you win, tails you lose. Fate. The flip of a coin (visual imagery that is repeated throughout the movie).
Soon the comfy world of hunting people collide with celebrity and television (as Domino’s mother convinces a reality TV producer to create a show around this motley 3). Fame, surveillance and some mixed up deals lead to a climatic, gun-slinging duel in atop the Stratosphere in Las Vegas between the FBI, mob, wealthy self-interest and the hunters.
Overall the film is a flashy, color saturated heist film with clever dialogue, unnecessary desert sex scene (seriously, what the hell … in the desert, after an incredibly implausible and impossible to survive RV wreck — yeah, lets have sex right here) and intriguing storyline. It’s neither brilliant nor complete trash, so if you want entertainment (though mixed with graphic violence and some nudity) and a few chuckles go ahead see the movie.