D is for "Domino." Unfortunately, it's also for "dreadful," "dreck" and "drivel." Tony Scott's latest foray into film is all these things and more. The acting is so-so, the story is ridiculous and the cinematography is dated.
Theoretically, "Domino" tracks the life of famed bounty hunter Domino Harvey (Kiera Knightly), an ex-model who left her job in order to pursue a career that better fit her personality. But as the title cards display at the start of the film, "This is Domino Harvey and this is her real life story ... well, sort of."
The story begins with Domino as a child, stealing from the collection plate of a church, and then jumps ahead several years at a time to show the stuff she's made of, including scenes of a teenage Domino training with weaponry, breaking the nose of a sorority girl and fighting on the catwalk. Domino then meets the two men who would become her partners and best friends, Ed (Mickey Rourke) and Choco (Edgar Ramirez).
This motley crew begins to cut a wide swath through the bounty-hunting world until their boss gives them a job to cover up his own antics, thus pulling Domino and her compatriots into a fight between the Mob, the FBI and a violent casino owner. Along the way, the bounty hunters get their own reality TV show, start to question what they are getting themselves into and work to get out of the job alive and with enough money to make it all worthwhile. To say the plot is convoluted would be an understatement.
The cast of this movie is huge. The three principle actors are generally viewable but not terrific, and the rest of the cast ranges anywhere from passable to laughable. Some of the best work in the movie comes from cameo appearances by "90210" alums Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering who play themselves as the hosts of the reality show that follows Domino around, but it isn't as though this is truly acting. Christopher Walken appears as well, this time lending his manic performance to the role of a television executive, but even this isn't enough to bring up the quality of this movie. It's hard to say whether or not it is the acting, the direction, or the script that truly makes this film terrible, but even giving the actors the benefit of the doubt the performances fall flat and far short of these actors' talents.
Similarly, Tony Scott has been known to have talent as a director ("Top Gun," anyone?), but the way this movie was put together seemed shoddy. It's as though Scott wasn't sure if this was going to be a biopic, a comedy or an action flick and as a result mixed all of the elements together, throwing in a little "Point Break," as well.
The cuts are quick, the shots dizzying and the footage itself looks gritty. Granted, the grittiness of the image was most likely intended, but the effect just makes "Domino" look like a low quality production. The part of the movie that looked like it had the highest production value was the opening credits; they were clean, well planned and had stylized imagery that didn't seem as though it had been pulled from another film.
The long and short of "Domino" is that it is standard action fare that tries too hard to be great, and in the process lowers itself to the point of being well below sub-par. It's not the best Keira Knightly film or the worst Tony Scott film, but it is not recommended for viewing unless a headache and an empty wallet are the desired results of the evening.
