Matthew D
Exhilarating action, bizarre story, and totally original style from Tony Scott in his craziest film!
Director Tony Scott’s historical action crime thriller Domino (2005) is unspeakably strange and completely entertaining. I’m not even sure what to write about Domino. Tony Scott’s unhinged bold direction, the hyper frenetic editing, outlandish cinematography, stylish shadowy lighting, gritty story, tough characters, bizarre true story, outrageous jokes, and shocking twists all make Domino a classic worth revisiting. The back and forth storytelling about Domino’s forlorn upbringing into her wild youth and even wilder bounty hunter career is enthralling. Tony Scott’s emotional tribute to Domino in the end got me teary-eyed.
I recall seeing this 20 years ago because it starred Keira Knightley, but I did not remember writer Richard Kelly’s script being this odd and engaging. Domino Harvey’s life was certainly odd, a rich English daughter of Manchurian Candidate actor Laurence Harvey, who became a fashion model, then a South Central Los Angeles bounty hunter is total insanity. Kelly adapts Sacha Gervasi’s original story about Domino Harvey’s crazy real life into something fresh and exciting. You certainly will not be bored. I appreciate seeing Domino’s fascinating life and only dedicating the film to Domino after her tragic overdose of fentanyl on June 27, 2005, just a few months prior to the release of Domino. Casting directors Denise Chamian and Scout Masterson cast every actor and actress under the Sun for Domino’s eclectic ensemble.
Keira Knightley is cool, sexy, tough, sympathetic, funny, startling, moving, and enchanting as model turned bounty hunter starlet Domino Harvey. Knightley plays around as Domino demonstrating how people underestimated what Domino could do and how she could really defend herself. I found her completely enthralling and brings a mature intensity to Domino. This is honestly some of Keira’s finest acting for a fascinatingly strange and complex role to portray the fierce enigma who was Domino. Jacqueline Bisset is cunning and engaging as Domino’s judgmental mother Sophie Wynn. I forgot Lucy Liu is Taryn Mills, who is interviewing Domino to get her side of the story. She’s supremely gorgeous and charming here with funny insulting and otherwise mean comments towards Domino.
Mickey Rourke is gritty and amusing as the upbeat bounty hunter expert Ed Moseby. Rourke provides suddenly funny one liners and real sage advice as the very likable Ed. He’s surprisingly hilarious, but also commanding as the ferocious and resourceful Ed. Édgar Ramírez is handsome and furious as the angry and infatuated professional bounty hunter Choco. He brings out a lot from Keira too.
Delroy Lindo is delightful as the sincere bail bondsman and shrewd con artist Claremont Williams. Lindo is magnetic and highly entertaining as the big talker Claremont. Mo'Nique is interesting, hysterical, and sympathetic as Lateesha Rodriguez. Mena Suvari is beautiful and sweet as the long-suffering secretary Kimmie to Christopher Walken’s manic producer Mark Heiss. Walken goes full Harvey as the sleazy and angry producer. Walken looks like he’s having the time of his life doing comedic bits as this guy. Macy Gray is funny as Lashandra Davis like Shondrella Avery’s Lashindra Davis. They keep dressing them up like Missy Elliott.
Dabney Coleman’s stern Drake Bishop and Peter Jacobson’s underhanded agent Burke Beckett are fun villains. Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering are good sports to spoof themselves so ridiculously. Stanley Kamel’s constantly upset mob boss Anthony Cigliutti is another fun villain. All the robbers of T. K. Carter’s Lester Kincaid, Kel O'Neill’s Frances Cigliutti, Lew Temple’s Locus Fender, Joe Nunez’s Raul Chavez, and Dale Dickey’s raging Edna Fender are very funny. Tom Waits shows up as The Wanderer with a surprisingly uplifting and supportive message towards Domino that sums up the movie’s sympathy for her life choices. Riz Abbasi’s explosives expert from Afghanistan named Alf is a riot. The real Domino Harvey’s cameo at the end as the girl standing in front of an exploding car got me tearful to see her.
Editors William Goldenberg and Christian Wagner’s rapid fire cuts feel like a nonstop music video. It’s so awesome that we go from model catwalks, bounty hunter montages, to flashbacks, and everything in between. Cinematographer Dan Mindel goes for wild angles and perspectives like a 2000’s electronic or Goth rock music video. The shadowy and stylized lighting by Chris Weigand and Michael Off looks so cool. I wish films now looked half as cool as the shadows over the eyes lighting in Domino. Kiera Knightley’s Domino being interviewed by Lucy Liu’s Taryn scenes look incredible. Camera operator Andres L. Porras pulls off every visual camera movement trick you’ve ever heard of here.
Composer Harry Gregson-Williams’s electrifying film score is amazing. All the rap songs from Xzibit are awesome and a fun time capsule of 2005. Costume designer B. Åkerlund is to be commended for all these iconic 2000s’ looks for Keira Knightley that are burned into my brain. Some of these are the best Keira has ever looked on the silver screen. Makeup artists Fiona Connon, Rob Hinderstein, Joel Harlow, and Luisa Abel do all these intense Goth and rebellious looks for Keira’s Domino. Hairstylists Martin Samuel, Lucia Mace, and Anthony Miner incredible haircuts for Keira look astounding.
In all, Domino is Tony Scott at his most brazenly bizarre, but he pulls it off for a 127 minute long wild ride.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/07/25
Full Review
Blu B
The editing is a special kind of bad. It's horrifically bad. It's edited like a music video and it's so distracting with random fast editing, random slow motion, and some stuff I don't even know. It just straight gets incoherent. It's got 2 stories going on. The actual biopic about Domino Harvey and her upbringing, motivations, relationships and all. And a second one about the mafia, a kidnapping, the FBI, double crossing, informants, Monique selling fake IDs and I just don't even know what's happening when it comes together at the end. The ending just straight doesn't make sense. It's like a poorly done True romance type of ending that's so poorly done I can't tell what is happening. It never in the lsightest makes these two stories work together and it keeps jumping between the tw and on top of being out of order flashback style too it makes it so convuluted and more incoherent as it goes on. The pacing is terrible because of it. The music sin't good and just doesn't fit. It's like a Bad Boys/Fast & Furious type soundtrack that's trying to be hip and cool more than matching something for what is actually happening on screen. The cinematography isn't good either. Scott's direction is so distracting and doesn't add anything. The color saturation, gritty and raw cinematography, scenes that look like a MTV video don't add at all. Some of the action is cool and some interactions are interesting but it doesn't add to anything. The best thing is the acting which is just alright. Keira is good and the only good thing in this. The casting in general is pretty good but the lines their given and the unfocused script doesn't help things at all and weigh it down. This is trying to be like a Molly's Game type of biopic crossed with like a True Romance crime plot. It should've just focused on Domino Harvey and her interesting life and the colorful characters and get rid of that crazy crime plot. This should be remade honestly. I see potential here. Skip This until that happens.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/14/25
Full Review
Audience Member
I had never heard of Domino Harvey before watching this movie many years ago.
It was so grimy and interesting and quirky, that I sat through the whole movie wondering what was going to happen next.
It was like a Quentin Tarratino movie on acid, filled with dozens of garish self-involved characters moving in different directions and crashing into each other.
The chaos in this movie is even more reflective of today's society than it was 20 years ago when it was released.
And Monique is a scene stealer.
Look for the late Domino Harvey at the end of the film and in the movie 'Constantine'.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/04/25
Full Review
Harald B
It does not grow on you the longer it lasts. Not really any substance and i am tempted to call it a waste of my attention. But it is so horribly made i can't bring myself to turn it off. I've read the other reviews and they bring it to the point too. Exept for the one where someone calls it the wet dream of a maxime reader. That's uncalled for, Maxine is a darn fine magazine. You're out off line with you're foul language Lady, if we can call you that.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
07/22/24
Full Review
Alain M
was ok, Kiera Knightly comfirms she can hold her own in an action flick where the action is typically signed off by Tony Scott.
Story is a bit incoherent with the flashback angle, making the movie all the more confusing.
Mickey Rourke is actually good in this one. Much better then the roles he is portraying as of late, where he is more on the Seagal route as anything else
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
07/03/23
Full Review
Matthew F
Domino was a solid movie.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
04/22/23
Full Review
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