Review: Domino

Rated R | 127 mins

IMDB Info

Leave it to Tony Scott to disregard all realistic expectations for sophistication, artistry, and morality, and in the process make something completely sophisticated, artful, and moral—in its own demented sort of way. Domino is “based on [the] true story…sort of” of Domino Harvey—as the film’s opening credits inform us—the female-bounty-hunter daughter of The Manchurian Candidate’s Laurence Harvey. Throughout the duration, Scott throws around random subtitles on various parts of the screen, plays with totally unnecessary lighting-techniques, and directs his cast to a point of compulsive obscurity. Not once does he even stop to think about the way in which his movie will be received by audiences. Why? Because he could give a shit. Domino was made in the spirit of genuine energy and hilarity, fast and funny as hell in just about every way one could imagine or—scratch that—not imagine. Keira Knightley—as protagonist Domino herself—throws around numchucks, finds sawed off arms with the codes to safes on them, and discovers in reverse-motion that people “haven’t really” been buried alive. The entire movie represents what Quentin Tarantino would’ve done had he made films as a teenager; it’s mad about pop culture, totally violent, and über-pointless, but that’s the fun of it all. Not to mention, as if his vision wasn’t already mad enough, Scott dares to include the ingenious Christopher Walken in the mix as a TV-producer who decides to make a reality-show following Domino around while bounty-hunting. It may be true that Domino is a mess, but it’s one heck of a thrilling one, never more overbearing than it is entertaining.