'Domino' makes a lot of noise, but not much sense


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Think of "Domino" not so much as an overwrought adventure movie starring Keira Knightley as a bounty hunter, and more like one of those big domino-toppling displays that David Letterman sometimes puts on his show.

Clickety-clackety-clickety-clackety, the little tiles just go whizzing by, knocking everything over, making a lot of noise and not a lot of sense. It's kinda cool but it's basically just a big stunt.

New Line Cinema

'Domino'

C+

The verdict: Clickety-clack, clickety-clack.

Director: Tony Scott
Starring: Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, Edgar Ramirez, Rizwan Abbasi, Ian Ziering, Christopher Walken
Run time: 120 minutes
Release date: Oct. 14, 2005
Rating: R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content/nudity and drug use.
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You want Tarantino violence, Bruckheimer explosions, grainy, grandiose cinematography? Step right up. Out-of-left-field pop culture satire? Sit right down. A plot that's impossible to follow? Turn off your mind. A "sort of" true story where very little is true? You get the idea.

Knightley, who is now every molecule a movie star, plays Domino Harvey, a young beauty from a privileged background who decides, for her own rebellious reasons, to become a bounty hunter. Mickey Rourke, looking sketchy even by Rourke standards, takes her under his heavily tattooed wing, and along with Edgar Ramirez, they embark on a life of shotgun shells and no-tell motels.

A reality TV producer (Christopher Walken) thinks they're way cool and builds a TV show around them at the exact moment they get embroiled in a wickedly complicated caper involving $10 million, the Mob, a little girl who needs an expensive operation and the Department of Motor Vehicles.

At one point, one of Walken's minions says the producer has "the attention span of a ferret on crystal meth," which surely describes this hyper movie. Director Tony Scott can barely focus his camera, let alone his attention, as he cross-cuts maniacally between everything and everything else, whether it fits or not. One of the upsides of this is an amazingly bizarre supporting cast that includes the comedian Mo'Nique, Dabney Coleman, Macy Gray, Brian Austin Green, Tom Waits and Lucy Liu as a lesbian FBI agent. They hang on for dear life as the movie careens around corner after corner.

You might as well give in and enjoy the sheer adrenaline of "Domino." In the end, that's all it's offering.


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