The already larger-than-life story of Domino Harvey, a former Ford model turned bounty hunter, takes on mythological proportions in Tony Scott's (TRUE ROMANCE, MAN ON FIRE) fast-paced thriller. Unfolding in a nonlinear fashion as a bloodied Domino (Kiera Knightley) is interrogated by iron-faced Officer Taryn Miles (Lucy Liu), the film traces the trajectory of Domino's tumultuous life. Beginning with the death of her beloved father, the actor Laurence Harvey (THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE), Domino develops into a hard-nosed, scrappy young woman who trains with nunchucks beside her mother's luxurious pool and responds violently to anyone who crosses her. Bored with the runway and the glamorous LA life, Domino shows up for a bounty-hunter seminar. Catching the "teachers" of the seminar as they try to cut and run with the proceeds, she manages to win their respect and joins their team. This consists of Ed Mosbey (Mickey Rourke), the tough-as-nails leader and Domino's surrogate father, and Choco (Edgar Ramirez), an impulsive Venezuelan who harbors a not-so-secret love for Domino. The three form a kind of family, working under Claremont Williams (Delroy Lindo), who "plays Charlie to their three angels." For a time they are unstoppable, even agreeing to let the slimy Mark Heiss (Christopher Walken) produce a reality-TV show about them, which is hilariously hosted by Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green (BEVERLY HILLS 90210). But when Claremont orchestrates a complicated inside job in order to raise the money for his granddaughter's doctor bills, the precarious balance within the trio is disturbed. Tom Waits stands out in a cameo as a wise wanderer who advises the lost bounty hunters.
(34 votes)
2.
The daughter of respected actor and matinee idol Lawrence Harvey, and model turned socialite Sophie Wynn, Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley) was born into a life of wealth and privilege – a lifestyle that did not interest her. Even from her earliest years, Domino rebelled against convention and the jet set. At the tender age of eight her beloved father passed away and her mother looked to the stability of boarding school in a misguided attempt to tame her wild child. But nothing could repress Domino’s fiery nature – not friendships, not school, not her mother’s high society. Even the extraordinary excesses paraded before her during a brief stint at modeling paled in comparison to her own escapades. Not until she stumbled upon a job seminar recruiting aspiring bounty hunters was her thirst for excitement at long last quenched. To Sophie’s (Jacqueline Bisset) horror, Domino not only fell in love with the job but also with her fellow adventurers, who over the years would become her family.
Domino finds her true calling and joins a colorful band of reprobates that includes her wolfish yet formidable ex-con boss, a ruggedly sexy Latino; and an Afghani ex-pat obsessed with explosives. An unlikely foursome to be sure, but their synchronized style consistently results in the capture of felonious bail jumpers. Before long they become L.A.’s most successful, not to mention infamous, bounty hunters. And where better to show off one’s talent than on television?
When producer Mark Heiss (Christopher Walken) and his faithful assistant, Kimmie (Mena Suvari), come knocking, the bounty hunters agree to become the stars of a new reality television show, “The Bounty Squad”, hosted by Beverly Hills 90210’s Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green (as themselves). Unbeknownst to cast and crew alike, Domino, Ed, Choco and Alf are about to embark on their biggest case ever.
In a bizarre turn, the bounty hunters find themselves tracking the most dangerous fugitives of their careers thanks to the antics of their employer, bail bondsman Claremont Williams III (Delroy Lindo). Faced with a financial crisis concerning his extended family – including his girlfriend, Lateesha (Mo’Nique), their daughter and granddaughter, as well as Lateesha’s twin cousins Lashandra (Macy Gray) and Lashindra (Shondrella Avery) – Claremont hatches a reckless plan to extricate himself from economic ruin. When his plan goes awry, Domino and her team blast their way out of a complex FBI investigation, led by criminal psychologist Taryn Miles (Lucy Liu), that involves the mob, a couple of errant college students and some ‘greazee’ white trash thieves.
(31 votes)
3.
A trademark Tony Scott film and starring Keira Knightley, Domino presents an entertaining mix of gritty action and a sharp visual style. The film is inspired by the life of Domino Harvey, a former model who rejected her privileged Beverly Hills life to become a bounty hunter.
(32 votes)
4.
Does it really matter what's true or false in Domino if the movie's so deliriously hard to resist? Tony Scott's dizzying film about his late friend, former model and famous bounty hunter Domino Harvey (1969-2005), is more tribute than biography, riffing on Harvey's action-packed exploits and brief reality-TV celebrity in a fractured, manic style that's so visually over-stimulating that it could throw vulnerable viewers into grand mal seizures. Scott's barrage of audio-visual hyperactivity is ultimately exhausting, and Richard Kelly's fragmented screenplay does nothing to discourage Scott's relentless MTV "style" (and we use that word oh-so-loosely here). And yet, with Keira Knightley so ferociously alluring in the title role, and Mickey Rourke (as her boss and bounty-hunting mentor, Ed Mosbey) serving up a second dose of his Sin City comeback, Domino grabs you by the throat and never lets go. Scott's embrace of nihilism is typically facile but it propels a vision of wretched humanity that pulls you in with train-wreck intensity. The movie's bracing humor also makes fine use of a large supporting cast including Christopher Walken, Jacqueline Bissett, Dabney Coleman, Edgar Ramirez, Mo'Nique, Delroy Lindo, Mena Suvari, Lucy Liu, and former Beverly Hills 90210 stars Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green (the latter two poking good-sport fun at themselves as "celebrity hostages"). The accidental overdose death of the real Domino (daughter of The Manchurian Candidate star Laurence Harvey) in the summer of 2005 threw a sad shroud of irony over this movie's theatrical release, but for all its reckless indulgence, Domino is a fitting eulogy for a troubled woman whose credo ("Heads you live, tails you die") is reflected in Scott's fictionalized rendition of the dangerous life she lived. --Jeff Shannon
(31 votes)
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