Domino: A Caçadora de Recompensas

If you find yourself in need of an escape, something that will hold your attention for two hours and allow you to be lost in another world, Domino will satisfy that need. This is entertainment, after all! The plot keeps your brain in motion - one of those movies (like Usual Suspects) where you want to see it a second time to figure it all out. I wondered about Domino Harvey herself, how her life became of interest to Hollywood. As for the acting, lots of celebrity appearances not shown in the trailers. And any actor that makes me forget who they are has done their job well. Not once did I think of Kiera in a soccer uniform or pirate costume. And granted, Mickey Rourke plays Mickey Rourke well and often, but here, despite the violence, he shows signs of being capable of caring for other people.

Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley) is a tough bounty hunter being interrogated by FBI criminal psychologist Taryn Mills (Lucy Liu). Domino is trying to recover $10 million of casino boss Drake Bishop (Dabney Coleman)'s money stolen from an armored truck. She lost her beloved actor father as a child and stuck with her gold-digging mother (Jacqueline Bisset). She got tired of her life and joins bail bondsman Claremont Williams III (Delroy Lindo), her tough boss Ed Moseby (Mickey Rourke), Choco (Edgar Ramirez) and their Afghan driver Alf (Riz Abbasi). Claremont runs the armored truck company. Lateesha Rodriguez (Mo'Nique) is one of his mistresses who is his inside girl in the DMV. Also the group is being filmed by reality TV producer Mark Heiss (Christopher Walken).

The movie starts off as an edgy heist story. I like the crazy visual style from director Tony Scott. Things are working more or less. It's overly complicated but I'm willing to follow. Then they pile on too much. The reality TV bit is the straw that broke the camel's back. Mo'Nique has a funny scene on Jerry Springer's show. Overall, there are just too many crazy things going on. I get tired of the random outlandish turns this movie makes.

Domino opens up with the title character being interrogated, and through the voice-over narration she informs us, "This is the part where I tell them to go to hell – that I'm not talking until my lawyer arrives." And two seconds later she tells the interrogating officer, "I'll tell you everything." This sets the tone and rhythm for the rest of the movie, and lets us know the narrative isn't afraid to contradict itself. Soon we jump to the setup of the film's ending, then we jump back to the beginning of Domino's story, and then we jump to an important plot point that won't come into play until twenty minutes later. Literalists and traditionalists, please stop watching the film immediately. So in the spirit of the film, I'll come back to this point in a little bit and probably say something completely different. If you're with me, you'll understand. If not, get lost.

Regarding the style: I never thought I'd see the day when I'd like a movie with a music video meets reality TV vibe. I've hated – no, scratch that – I've loathed films that would merely flirt with the idea. I've stopped caring entirely about plot/characters and any redeeming values because the style has driven me up a wall in those other films. Here, though, Tony Scott doesn't think twice about embracing it, and at first it didn't sit well with me as I remembered all the failures that came before Domino. But then something happened . . .

Mel Brooks, in describing his overboard ideas of comedy, once said, "What's the point of going all the way to the bell without ringing it? Let's ring the damn bell." Maybe my problem with this MTV/Reality-series style of film-making has been the fact that every other filmmaker was content to go part way – to just flirt with the idea – but here at last Tony Scott rings the bell.

And holy crap! When I started to listen it actually sounds good! Real freakin' good.

Perhaps another reason why it works in this film is because Tony Scott understands the potency behind each of a film's individual elements. And he's not content to let the music, editing, on screen performance, Kiera Knightley's voice-over, and on-screen text tell their small part of the story and work together as a whole; Domino uses each of its given elements to simultaneously tell their own version of the tale from beginning to end in its entirety. It's a full-on frontal assault of the senses and gives the viewer the feeling five people are telling their own interpretation of the exact same story at the exact same time – talking over one another, contradicting one another, interrupting each other, going back and correcting themselves.

You've heard of Howard Hawk's overlapping dialogue? Tony Scott gives you overlapping cinematic narrative elements. The genius and the magic is that Tony Scott masterfully maintains comprehensible order through all this narrative chaos, and somehow Tony Scott makes it all work.

Also, the film's stylization has another point behind – it serves as a reflection (dare I say an alternate, yet effective, means of character development?) for Domino Harvey, her attitude, and the world she lives in. This movie is not content simply telling us about the world, it's a part of that world too, and for two hours it wants to bring us there. Or to draw an analogy – you can listen to a book being read in a flat monotone or you can listen to it being read with different voices for each character, and the narrator gets up and acts out the story too. Domino goes that extra distance.

The plot? I'd be wasting my time if I tried. Domino Harvey is a former model turned bounty hunter. And the movie, itself, is an action-adventure thriller. You don't need to know anything more. The point of Domino isn't on the contents of the plot, the point of Domino resides in the style in which that plot is told (and it is told very effectively). Or in other words, a summarization is nearly pointless. If you need to "get" the plot, you're not going to "get" Domino at all.

Domino is a style, an attitude, a perspective. It's a film willing to tell its audience to either come along for the ride or get lost. Based on a true story? Kiera's voice over says it, "If you want to know what *really* happened . . . get lost!" (note: stated with significantly harsher language that IMDb doesn't want to accept in a review, but you get the idea.)

If you go to this movie expecting something it isn't, you will be disappointed, as with any movie. This movie contains what Hemmingway described as the "iceberg effect". On the surface, its simply a cache of random movie clips smashed together to make a movie. If this would be written in a book, it would be a short story, because the action in the movie is very fast paced, and unless you actually try to catch it, the reasoning behind the plot (along with some subtle foreshadowing) can very well pass you by. Definitely a movie you will have to see twice in order to fully appreciate. Experimental Cinematography barely describes this movie. The camera-work and post production add much to the overall flavour of the film, making it quite artistic at some points and open to interpretation at others (something to be desired in American movies as of late). Although, at some parts it may get a little raunchy, gruesome and too heavy for some audiences, the movie never becomes completely unrealistic. The only aspect of the movie that I would write off as "needs improvement" is the soundtrack selection. No movie is ever good without a fitting soundtrack, and although the soundtrack is quite fitting, the opening is a little too long, and the other rap songs in the film really could have been replaced with something more appropriate (heavy, grungy rock or psychedelic electronica would have made this film a real trip). The flooding of imagery and dynamic... color palettes adds another "artistic" aspect to it, also combined with the events that happen throughout the film, this is not a movie you can miss any part of and still understand. However, that also makes it much more of a desirable film to watch, and not one you'll quickly get bored of. 8.5/10

Heads you live. Tails you die. Her name is Domino Harvey. She is a bounty hunter. This unconventional film is based very loosely on the true unconventional life of the daughter of actor Laurence Harvey. Losing her father at an early age, Domino grew up with her mother and lived the good life as a rich girl, becoming a Ford model at one point. But she has always been the aloof social outcast, and tend to loathe the high life (Beverly Hills brat-packers) she has been brought up in. She doesn't mince her words, and packs a wallop of a punch too.

Chancing upon a Bounty Hunter job, she signs up with one of the best in the business, Ed Mosbey (Mickey Rourke) and his partner Choco (Edgar Ramirez). It's a totally different life from one in which she grew up in, but as she explained to Ed, she's in it for the fun and thrills. She's skilled with various weapons like automatic weapons, knives and the Nun-chaks, and fast transforms into an asset to her team, with "bra and panties on". Soon, the trio become famous in the bounty hunting arena (who wouldn't with 2 hunks and a gorgeous babe), as we follow them through their various exploits. They even have their own reality TV show Bounty Squad, which plays an integral part of the story.

The film starts off very intensely and jumps right into the action, before the audience is brought back to the beginning, and chronicles her life from the start. At times, this movie is deliberately filmed in 70-ish television series style, especially the classic opening credits with theme song, character titles, and plenty of images with scenes from the movie. Some in the audience, however, will not appreciate the characteristic MTV styled quick cuts used by director Tony Scott, and I do see him making more films using this style, with his previous films Man on Fire and Spy Game. The soundtrack for this film is vulgarly kinky too.

That aside, there might be many not comfortable with the narrative style used, with constant flashbacks, and even "reversing" what had been shown on screen, making it a tad confusing at times. For those who somehow not manage to stay attentive to the plot, you may get lost halfway through, as it involves many characters with various personal motivations, which culminates in an explosive ending. Satisfying at the end, but only if you're patient with the build up, just like one of Tony Scott's earlier movies (which I shall not mention, as it is similar in narrative structure).

A number of actors make their appearance in this movie, like Christopher Walken as a reality show producer, Mena Suvari as his mousy secretary, Lucy Liu as an FBI interrogator, even singer Macy Gray and veteran Jacqueline Bisset as Domino's mother. Take note however, that major comedic moments are provided in Jerry Springer's Show, and the early 90s TV series Beverly Hills 90210 contributing 2 actors Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green to be has-been parodies of themselves.

Keira Knightley swears a lot in this film. A whole lot, different from when she first burst into the scene with Bend It Like Beckham. What's amazing is her ability to handle a tough-as-nails character, and the expressing of her emotions in totally different scenes, some sentimental, some sarcastic, some totally kicking rear. It's an eye opener too to watch her handle various deadly weapons with ease. She could well be on her way to marquee a film, though I felt in this one, she had the assistance of Mickey Rourke, and a good supporting cast, to carry this film through.

This film is dedicated in memory of the real Domino Harvey, who passed away earlier this year before the movie is released. The real her is seen at the end credits, where they feature the cast, and she makes an appearance as the last character, simply titled "Domino".

Such is the fictional story of an extraordinary life of an unconventional lady.