Domino (2005)

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Movie
German title domino
Original title domino
Country of production France , USA , Great Britain
original language English
Publishing year 2005
length 122 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
JMK 16
Rod
Director Tony Scott
script Richard Kelly
production Skip Chaisson
Samuel Hadida
Tony Scott
music Harry Gregson-Williams
camera Daniel Mindel
cut Tony Ciccone
William Goldenberg
Christian Wagner
occupation

Domino is a film by British director Tony Scott . The action film is loosely based on the true life story of the title character and was produced by the film production companies Scott Free Productions , Domino 17521 Inc. , Davis-Films and Metropolitan Filmexport . The German theatrical release was on December 29, 2005. In the USA the film was distributed by New Line Cinema , in Germany by Constantin-Film .

action

The film begins with a conversation between Domino Harvey and the FBI - psychologist Taryn Miles. Then follows a flashback : Ex-model Domino works with her boss Ed Mosbey and Choco as a bounty hunter . You force a woman to open a vault that has ten million dollars in it. However, it is initially not possible for her to open the safe because she lacks the combination.

When Domino is asked by the psychologist why she became a bounty hunter, there is another flashback. Domino feels drawn to danger and risk and therefore decides to change her previous life. She joins bounty hunters Ed and Choco, who receive their assignments from Claremont Williams. The group later recruits the Afghan “explosives expert” and driver Alf.

On their first assignment with Ed and Choco, the group falls into a trap in which Domino offers the head of the gang a lap dance and in return demands both their release and the information that leads to the capture of the target person. Thanks to Domino, the group is so successful that even the acquaintance of Domino's mother and TV producer Mark Heiss wants to produce a reality show with them. Heiss hires old TV stars Brian Austin Green and Ian Ziering from the Beverly Hills TV series , 90210, as presenters for the show. The production team now accompanies the bounty hunters.

Things start to get out of hand when Claremont's lover Lateesha Rodriguez needs $ 300,000 for an operation on her granddaughter. Claremont, who runs a cash transport company on the side, decides to raise the money. His plan is to rob a cash transport over ten million US dollars with four people disguised as first ladies . Claremont then turns to the owner of the money, the casino owner Drake Bishop, and offers to get the money back through his bounty hunters minus a $ 300,000 finder's fee.

Little does Claremont suspect that Lateesha, who works in a vehicle registration office and regularly issues false papers and driver's licenses for money, has her own problems. In addition, Lateesha was fired by her boss after pretending to be ill to appear on a talk show. She then had an interview with FBI agents, who told Lateesha that four people she recently obtained for fake IDs will steal $ 10 million. However, she does not know that two of the four people are the sons of mafia boss Anthony Cigliutti. However, the ones who actually carry out the robbery are Lateesha, her sisters and a colleague of Lateesha, along with the initiated driver of the van. When it stops at a gas station, they panic and flee, leaving the money in the van. The driver brings the money to his mother, the woman from the first flashback at the beginning of the film.

The four wrongly accused are caught by Ed, Choco and Domino and handed over to a group that works for the casino owner Drake Bishop. It turns out that the stolen $ 10 million Cigliuttis money was supposed to be laundered by Bishop's casino. Bishop orders the killing of the four, not knowing that Cigliutti's sons are among them. Later in the film, however, it becomes clear that the four were not killed. The FBI finds her but does not tell Cigliutti, as they intend to meet Bishop and Cigliutti to establish a connection between the two.

When they find out the truth, the bounty hunters shake off the TV crew and set off to take the money. They kidnap the driver of the money transporter from a striptease club to get his mother to hand over the money. Coincidentally, the two presenters of the reality show are also in the club, which is why Ed decides to take them hostage. On the way, Domino calls Claremont, who tells them to remove the driver's sleeve to get the combination for the safe that is tattooed on his forearm. However, due to the poor cellular connection, she understands that she should remove the arm. Choco therefore shoots off the driver's arm.

The mother opens the safe after a long negotiation, the three bounty hunters take the money and set off again. Ed asks for a thermos of coffee for the ride, but doesn't notice the woman is mixing mescaline into the coffee. This leads to the group having an accident while driving. After this accident, Choco Domino confesses his love and they spend the night in the desert. The next morning they are visited by the “hiker” who convinces them to bring the money back.

The "Wanderer" drives the quartet and hostages back to Las Vegas, where they hand over the money to Drake Bishop. Lateesha then tells Domino that the money is for her sick granddaughter. Domino fetches $ 300,000 from Alf, who is sitting alone in the bathroom of the hotel room and has the money and explosives with him, to hand over this Lateesha. The four bounty hunters and the two hostages go to the "Top Of The World" restaurant to complete the handover. However, Alf then explains that he has exchanged the money for C4 and that he has the remote ignition in his hand. The situation escalates when Cigliutti - still believing that Bishop killed his sons - comes with reinforcements and a firefight breaks out. Domino pulls the wounded Ed and Choco into an elevator, whereupon Alf tells her that he would fix everything. When the elevator with dominoes is far enough from the restaurant, it detonates the explosives. The elevator cable rips in the explosion, but Domino survives.

The film ends again during the interrogation. The FBI fires Domino, who then reflects on her life. Alf sent the money to children in Afghanistan and Lateesha's granddaughter is being treated in hospital.

History of origin

The film is inspired by the life of Domino Harvey (1969-2005), the daughter of British actor Laurence Harvey and model Paulene Stone. Harvey sold the rights to her life story in 1995 for $ 360,000. Scott developed the project over many years with many different authors such as B. Steve Barancik and Roger Avary . In the meantime, Sharon Stone was scheduled for the lead role, but she withdrew from the project due to the postponement of the start of production. Richard Kelly was the fifth author to work on the film. Scott loved Kelly's vision of the story and in October 2002 it was officially announced that 20th Century Fox would produce the film. However, Scott was made an offer to implement Man on Fire - another of his film projects. As a result, Domino remained stuck in the development phase.

During post-production on Man on Fire Richard Kelly announced that Tony Scott Domino has taken as his next project the eye. In August 2004, New Line Cinema announced that it had acquired the rights to the film and that Keira Knightley had been cast in the lead role. Filming began on October 4, 2004 and ended on December 21, 2004. It was shot in Los Angeles and Las Vegas . The film had a budget of $ 57 million.

publication

The release of the film has been postponed several times. The film was finally released in US cinemas on October 14, 2005. Domino was not a commercial success and only brought in ten million US dollars in the USA.

The film was released in German cinemas on December 29, 2005, where it was seen by around 140,000 viewers and just barely made it into the top 10 of the German charts in the first week.

criticism

The reviews varied. The Village Voice called him "moronic enough to inspire something like pity." Rolling Stone said Domino Harvey deserved better. The New York Post criticized the hyperkinetic nature of the film: it was "amusing and funky for a while, but it finally gets you. Two eyeballs are not enough for that. ” Roger Ebert , on the other hand, found Scott's work“ alive ”. Domino confirms Godard's rule that all you need for a film is "a girl and a gun".

Keira Knightley's cinematic performance, however, earned praise. James Berardinelli , who denounced the film's "masturbatory excesses", called Knightley dominoes "sexy and amoral - a delicious mix". Knightley is an actress with an amazing range.

Trivia

  • The real Domino Harvey was found in a bathtub in West Hollywood on June 27, 2005 with an overdose of the pain reliever fentanyl and died shortly afterwards in hospital. The film credits begin with the words "In Loving Memory, Domino Harvey" .
  • The character Ed Moseby is based on the real bounty hunter Zeke Unger. Claremont Williams is based on Domino's real boss, Celes King III. Both worked as technical consultants during the shooting.
  • The film, which runs in the driver's mother's caravan and which was cut into the plot several times, is about Ambassadors of Fear (original title: The Manchurian Candidate ) with Domino's father Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra in the lead roles.
  • The final scene in the top suite of a large hotel is a clear reference to the showdown of Scott's film True Romance .
  • The film contains music and design elements from the film Man Under Fire, previously directed by Tony Scott .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for Domino . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , December 2005 (PDF; test number: 104 643 K).
  2. ↑ Age rating for Domino . Youth Media Commission .
  3. ↑ cf. insidekino.com
  4. ^ Review in The Village Voice
  5. ^ Review in Rolling Stone
  6. ^ Review in New York Post
  7. ^ Review by Roger Ebert
  8. ^ Review by James Berardinelli