Domino (2005)

Originally Written
Tuesday, April 4, 2006

I started watching Domino not expecting much of anything and came away from it thinking I should have expected even less. From day one I knew Domino was going to be a steaming pile of crap yet I rented it anyways because of my dying love for Keira Knightley... not really I just think she is rather talented. Well I'm going to admit I did not make it through the entire film, this is only the second film I have reviewed in which similar circumstances have occurred. On the flip side I did make it quite far, but after an hour and a half I was unwilling to waste anymore of my life. Personally and logically if a film isn't good within 30 minutes then it shouldn't be given your time so an hour and 30 minutes was a large leeway.

 

I'm not going to even bother giving my usual brief summary of the film because honestly I really couldn't tell you what was going on. Domino is "supposedly" the story of a model turned bounty hunter. Who knows how much of this film is actually true not to mention accurate. The premise is interesting and something good could have been made of a female bounty hunter story but instead Domino will remain as a living testament of just how to make a horrible excuse of a movie.

First off, and it pains me to say this, Keira Knightley was horrible. Her lines where corny and her catch phrases were even worse as the whole tough girl persona came off as completely fake and juvenile. For one thing Keira Knightley is almost too hot to play this role, I have seen pictures of the real Domino and she really couldn't hold a candle to the beauty of Knightley. But the major culprit in this excursion is the script, which is almost awful to a point that you have to be uneducated to truly enjoy it. The biggest word used in the film was probably "bounty hunter", while every other word out of their mouth was a four letter cuss word or some other form of one, it's a spotlight on a really bad script with nothing better to offer.

Another negative factor of the film is how it constantly jumps around from the past to the present and then back to the past only adding to the utter chaos that already plagues the film. With no strong storyline, relying on multiple sub plots and so many numerous unrelated characters it all leaves the viewer confused trying to figure out what's going on. It's quite ironic how Domino is quite similar to an actual set of dominoes, lined up and knocked down the first one engages the chain reaction which sends all the rest crumbling.

On the flip side I actually have a couple positives things to stay, one is the opening credits were good, by far the best sequence of the film, and the song played during the opening credits was catchy. If nothing else it acts as a facade to trick the viewer into believing this might actually be a good film. Another high point or possibly the final nail that closes the coffin, is the presence of Brian Austin Green and that other guy from Beverly Hills 90210. They end up being the comedy relief, the only entertaining part in this tedious mess although it's still quite puzzling why they're here to begin with seeing they had nothing to do with the real Domino. Does bringing in two has-beens who had a hit show about ten years ago, really add anything good to this movie or only add flame to the fire that Domino really is that bad? I would expect to see something like this in a comedy or a spoof but not a drama supposedly based on the life of a real person.

In the end Domino really sucked, plain and simple. It's a disgrace to serious film making in every sense of the word, by attempting to be a cutting edge film and ending up being a horrible imitation. I'm actually sorry I bothered watching some of this film because giving it such a low score ruins Knightley's chances of being my actress of the year, but I can't pretend even a little to like this film.

1/10