As Pedras do Dominó

Kramer, first as a producer and then a director, had been at the forefront in dealing with important social themes in Hollywood (THE DEFIANT ONES [1958], ON THE BEACH [1959], INHERIT THE WIND [1960] and JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG [1961] were his best films); by the late 60s, however, his particular brand of investigative style went out-of-date. In its place – largely in the wake of the Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations – the Kafkaesque political thriller became fashionable; unsurprisingly, Kramer decided to try his hand at this as well – but the end result proved middling at best.

He certainly had his heart in the right place by choosing Gene Hackman, one of the finest actors of his generation, for the lead role – having already appeared in such superb pieces of alienation and paranoia as Francis Ford Coppola's THE CONVERSATION (1974) and Arthur Penn's NGHT MOVES (1975). His supporting cast looks impressive enough on paper, but they're given little to do: Candice Bergen (who's supposedly decorous here but is saddled with a highly unbecoming wig!), Richard Widmark (appropriately craggy in the role of a leading member of the secret organization), Mickey Rooney (amusingly cantankerous as Hackman's prison pal), Edward Albert (playing Widmark's young, ambitious and confrontational sidekick, thus making an interesting foil for the world-weary Hackman) and, in perhaps the least rewarding part of the lot, Eli Wallach (as Hackman's 'job' co-ordinator).

The film looks good but is bogged down by a rather icky central romance and the deliberate obliqueness of its narrative (starting with the hokey credit sequence). The effectively ironic revelation, then, is unfortunately followed by a number of other less convincing (not to say unwarranted) plot twists in quick succession – the last of which even rips off GET CARTER (1971)!

First I bought The Butterfly Effect, now The Domino Principle. In both movies the title makes a promise which is not kept in the least. The metaphor signifying that one falling stone brings all the others down has nothing to do with the story. The main character is rather a pawn in a game of chess, with no will of its own and part of an unknown scheme concocted by the player. Unfortunately the viewers do not learn much about the scheme either and everything simmers down to blind anti-government paranoia.

The acting is better than the story, and there are a few great helicopter scenes. This is possibly the last time Richard Widmark used his insane Tommy Udo laughter in a movie. Eli Wallach has not enough screen time to be more than reliable. One of the reasons to watch this is Mickey Rooney. His performance is a sheer delight. He plays Gene Hackman's sidekick in prison and steals every scene he's in. What a great character actor this former child star became!

For the opening credits of this movie they seem to have used several childhood photos of Gene Hackman, apart from a number of dominoes.

Vietnam veteran Gene Hackman (as Roy Tucker) is serving time in San Quentin for murder. Then, mysterious dark-suited Richard Widmark (as Tagge) arrives to spring Mr. Hackman from prison in return for his assassinating somebody very important. Hackman insists foul-mouthed cell-mate Mickey Rooney (as Oscar Spiventa) should also be released. On the outside, Hackman is eventually reunited with wigged-out wife Candice Bergen (as Eleanor "Ellie" Tucker). Handsome young Edward Albert (as Ross Pine) is part of the plan. Ever reliable Eli Wallach (as Tom "General" Reser) helps arranges stuff.

Very disappointing, "The Domino Principle" isn't what you're expecting from a Gene Hackman movie directed by Stanley Kramer. It seems to have suffered from re-writes during filming and/or extensive cutting. The opening monologue turns out to be pointless, along with much of what follows. It's impossible to determine what was intended.

The supporting cast must have been wondering what happened. Mr. Rooney ponders sexual exploits amusingly. "Instead of getting her period every 28 days, she had periods that lasted 28 days," is how Rooney describes one disinterested female; it's one of his cleaner observations. As we watch the plot unravel before our very eyes, Mr. Widmark sums it up as, "The bigger the stink, the more there is to cover up." Mr. Albert offers a good, albeit underdeveloped, characterization. In a noteworthy final appearance, watch for veteran Jay Novello as an immigration official who wants to see Hackman's passport.

**** The Domino Principle (3/23/77) Stanley Kramer ~ Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, Edward Albert, Mickey Rooney

Want to waste some time and some brain cells? That's the side effect of watching this very bad film. Gene Hackman is his usual commanding self. Candice Bergen is totally out of her element, and this miscasting could easily have earned her a "Golden Turkey" award. The plot edited down to 100 minutes is vague, confusing, and nothing but a time waster. With the supporting cast including Eli Wallach and Richard Widmark, you would reasonably expect more for them to work with. Unfortunately that is not the case. The entire movie is a "so what". You won't give a damn about what you are seeing on the screen, because nothing, and I mean nothing is explained. What you are left with is a pretty location, boring beyond belief, crappy film. - MERK

"The Domino Principle" has all but been forgotten today. Seeing it, it becomes clear why it hasn't become a cult movie to any degree. I will admit that it's not a terrible movie; in fact, it has some positive attributes. Gene Hackman is, as usual, solid. And Candice Bergen, who has been criticized many times for her bad performances in this time of her life, actually gives a decent performance. The movie also starts off fairly well, with quite a bit of mystery that slowly unpeels. But the movie ultimately unfolds TOO slowly. It takes forever for Hackman to get out of prison, and takes much longer for Hackman to understand what the mysterious organization wants from him. And we never really learn who the target is, and why he is targeted! I never would have guessed a famous filmmaker like Stanley Kramer was behind this movie, not just for its unusually slow pace but also for the fact that aside from some bad language and some violence, the movie feels exactly like a made-for-TV effort.