Fat Ninja

So, I made a trip to Wherehouse yesterday in hopes of picking up a used copy of Clint Eastwood’s Heartbreak Ridge, but alas they had none. While perusing their selection, I discovered that Tony Scott’s Domino had released. I had been interested in seeing it when it was out in theaters, but given the rarity that is a trip to the movie theater on my part, I have to be very selective. Needless to say, Domino did not make the theater cut, but after procuring a copy yesterday afternoon, I sat down for an oft-interrupted viewing.

Before going much further, I’ll tell you that I have done little to no research on the life and times of Domino Harvey, whose story the film tells. I know that director Tony Scott was close friends with the real-life model-turned-bounty-hunter Domino, and that he had worked with her over a 12-year period in order to bring his vision to the silver screen. However, judging from the film’s rather self-conscious admisssion, it is based upon a true story, “Sort of”.

This admission naturally allows for the taking of certain liberties with the storyline, although lack of clarification makes it nigh impossible for the audience to discern where fact meanders into fiction. However, this works in Domino’s favor, lending a kind of real-life-super-hero quality to the title character and her compatriots.

Keira Knightley’s diminuative frame perfectly fits the role of Domino Harvey, her lithe figure beguiling her character’s strength. Other roles in the film are equally well-cast. Mickey Rourke plays Ed Mosbey brilliantly, offering a hardened mentor and father-figure to Knightley’s Domino. Filling out the bounty-hunting trio is Edgar Ramirez as Choco, a wild-eyed and violence-prone character whose brutality seems to come too easy for one to feel comfortable. Many other familiar faces fill the film’s 128-minute run time, including Christopher Walken, Lucy Liu, and even Macy Gray.

The storyline of Tony Scott’s Domino follows the life and times of Domino Harvey. The daughter of actor Laurence Harvey, Domino led a life of privilege. Despite early efforts to break into the modelling business and attempts to obtain a higher education, Domino simply yearned for more. She sought a calling that would make her feel alive. Given the way in which a brush with danger and, particularly, death can serve as an inspirational reminder of what it is to be truly alive, Domino answered this calling as a bounty hunter.

Under the tutelage of Ed and Choco, she eventually goes on to become 2003’s Bounty Hunter of the year. But when she and the rest of her team find themselves in the middle of a scheme to relieve a Mafia boss of a substantial sum of money, Domino finds that she has perhaps gotten more than she bargained for.

Domino’s story is told brilliantly by director Tony Scott. Marked by a rich, grainy, and oversaturated visual aesthetic, as well as a shuffled exposition of the plotline, the film is fast-paced and edgy, almost jarring at times. The technique lends itself perfectly to the break-neck chaos of Domino Harvey’s life, and the gritty life of a bounty hunter in Los Angeles.

Final Thoughts

As I said before, I can’t really speak to how accurate a representation Domino is with respect to the life of Domino Harvey. Judging from some of the events depicted in Tony Scott’s action bio-pic, it’s certain that there is a level of embellishment attached to the proceedings.  Still, just as I was almost rolling my eyes in incredulity at some sequences, I was often compelled to check my inner cynic and just allow myself to be amazed by the traces of fact within the fiction.

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