Domino

In what movie in 2005 did these actors appear?

Keira Knightley
Mickey Rourke
Delroy Lindo
Mo’Nique
Dabney Coleman
Lucy Liu
Jacqueline Bisset
Mena Suvari
Christopher Walken

The answer: a smallish movie called Domino, a Tony Scott-directed film about a real-life bounty hunter. It’s based on her life, which ended, oddly enough, in 2005 at the age of 35. Or at least it’s loosely based. The film titles give it away when in large white letters appears: “Sort of.”

What a cast! You can imagine, then, that not all of these actors appears for any large amount of time, and that’s true, but they quickly chew whatever scenery they can. And we get to go along for the ride.

The film bookends the action by an interview of Domino by Lucy Liu’s FBI investigator. The voiceover by our heroine tells us that she could go up the river for a long time if she says the wrong thing, or isn’t believed if she tells the truth.

The action within concerns her start as a bounty hunter, and tells it amusingly. We see her respond to the ad, pay her $99 for the chance to learn how to become a bounty hunter, listen to an inspired speech by the erudite Delroy Lindo (whose character is based on a real bail-bondsman who was Domino’s boss and served as a technical advisor on the film). They take a break, take the money, and sneak out of the transom in the bathroom. She catches up to them, they like her verve, and take her on a bust to try her out. The rest is history.

She’s gutsy, that’s for sure. She doesn’t seem to care for anyone except for her goldfish. She has father issues, mother issues, people issues. She gives as good as she gets, and is continually surprising. And all of that comes across in this film. Oh, and by the way, the real Domino Harvey is the daughter of British actor Laurence Harvey.

Notable back-ups for her action include Mickey Rourke, who just keeps getting better in the second era of his career. Mickey plays Ed Moseby, whose character is based on, you guessed it, a real-life bounty hunter, Domino’s partner. Mickey’s character is a toned-down Marv from Sin City, and just as fascinating. Beat up, rode hard, put up wet…..and that just makes you want to get to know him better.

Domino is stylistically hard to follow, lots of whitewash and filters, and a side plot concerning Mo’Nique and the DMV in the middle in which you momentarily get lost. But it all comes together; it all works.

Damn violent, though. Watch out for flying limbs. But it’s done in almost comic fashion, if you can even imagine that.

Strange movie. Even stranger that I will give a thumb’s up for it.