Keira goes butch

Keira goes butch

If you are an heiress-turned-bounty hunter, chances are someone will want to buy your life story -“ which is precisely what director/ producer Tony Scott did with Domino Harvey.

Harvey was the English rose heiress daughter of a socialite model mum and matinee idol father Lawrence Harvey but she threw it all away to become a gun-toting bounty hunter chasing after guys who had jumped bail. Some 15 years after Scott and Harvey’s first meeting, a version of her life is hitting the big screen with a shorn baby butch Keira Knightley in the lead role, looking like anything but an English rose.

Sadly, Domino Harvey died last June in tragic circumstances before Domino was released. She was someone who lived large and seemed to love the whiff of danger and the sniff of drugs. Knightley’s Domino is less tough and gritty but teams up well with Mickey Rourke as her bounty hunter boss Ed Moseby and Edgar Ramirez as Choco, Ed’s sidekick and her gratuitous love interest

But Domino is -“ shall we say -“ only loosely based on Domino Harvey’s life. Donnie Darko screenwriter Richard Kelly takes so many liberties that it’s probably best to take this film with a grain of salt. Depending on which reports you read, the real Harvey was either pissed off or thoroughly delighted with her portrayal. Some reports said she was an out-and-proud dyke annoyed that the film depicted her as heterosexual. In other reports, including those circulated by the film’s distributor, Harvey was said to be talking of suing several publications for calling her a lesbian.

Domino is like Ocean’s Twelve tripping on mescaline. Your best bet is to just go along with the ride. So extreme are the storyline tangents that it’s like, whatever.

Scott’s directorial style borrows substantially from rap music clips and is as much a dig in the ribs at American television pop culture. Jerry Springer appears in a cameo and there are supporting roles for 90210 actors Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green, playing themselves as has-been actors. Christopher Walken fronts up as a reality TV director keen on a Bounty Hunter series. Add in a thumping soundtrack, snappy editing and a strong supporting cast that includes Lucy Liu as an FBI agent and singer Macy Gray.

By the roll of the credits, you may feel as though you’ve been zapping the remote control for the last two hours. Treat the film as satire and you’ll enjoy it. Look for more and you’ll come away empty-handed.

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