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"DOMINO" (2005) (Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Heavy Heavy Extreme Moderate Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Moderate None Moderate Extreme Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme Extreme Mild Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Action/Drama: While being profiled by a reality TV crew, a bounty hunter and her companions get in over their heads when they try to track down those responsible for an armored car heist that eventually involves the mob, the FBI and more. PLOT: While being interrogated by FBI criminal psychologist Taryn Miles (LUCY LIU), professional bounty hunter Domino Harvey (KEIRA KNIGHTLEY) tells her tale. It ranges from being the rich daughter of later Hollywood actor Laurence Harvey and model turned socialite Pauline Stone (JACQUELINE BISSET) who then rebelled against authority and gave up modeling to work for bail bondsman Claremont Williams (DELROY LINDO). With partners Ed (MICKEY ROURKE), Choco (EDGAR RAMIREZ) and driver Alf (RIZWAN ABBASI), the quartet is highly proficient at tracking down fugitives. They're so good, in fact, that they've drawn the attention of TV producer Mark Heiss (CHRISTOPHER WALKEN) who has his assistant, Kimmie (MENA SUVARI), gather them together to pitch a reality TV show featuring them and their exploits. Named "The Bounty Squad" and hosted by Beverly Hills 90210's Ian Ziering (HIMSELF) and Brian Austin Green (HIMSELF), the show follows them on their latest case, finding those responsible for robbing an armored car working for casino owner Drake Bishop (DABNEY COLEMAN). Little do any of them know, however, that the heist has been arranged by Williams to help his lover Lateesha (MO'NIQUE) and her sick granddaughter, or that it will eventually involve the mob, the FBI and more. As Domino continues telling her tale to Miles, we see what led up to her being in the FBI's custody as everything comes to a head in their most recent case. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Teenage boys enamored with Keira Knightley or looking for a gritty action flick are the likeliest audience, although those who are fans of anyone else in the cast might be interested as well. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content/nudity and drug use. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: KEIRA KNIGHTLEY plays a tough as nails bounty hunter who gave up a life of privilege to track down fugitives. She fights and shoots various people, uses strong profanity, smokes, and has sex with Choco. MICKEY ROURKE plays her father-figure partner who showed her the ropes when she came on board and now has a thing for her. He fights and roughs up various people and smokes. EDGAR RAMIREZ plays the less flashy but still tough and violent partner who smokes a bit and has sex with Domino. RIZWAN ABBASI plays their Afghan driver who has a thing for explosives (and uses them to the group's advantage, including killing various bad people). LUCY LIU plays a criminal psychologist for the FBI who interrogates Domino. CHRISTOPHER WALKEN plays a TV producer who wants to create a reality show about bounty hunters, focusing on Domino. He uses strong profanity. MENA SUVARI plays his assistant who helps get the show off the ground. JACQUELINE BISSET plays Domino's mom who drinks, smokes and isn't crazy about the reality TV show. DELROY LINDO plays the bounty hunters' adulterous boss who sets up the armored car heist to help the granddaughter of his lover. He smokes. DABNEY COLEMAN plays the owner of a casino who isn't pleased his armored car has been knocked off. He smokes cigars. MO'NIQUE plays a DMV employee who's also Claremont's lover who reluctantly gets fake IDs for college kids and is worried about getting the money for her sick grandchild. IAN ZIERING AND BRIAN AUSTIN GREEN play themselves, former actors on a popular TV show who are now serving as the reality TV show's hosts. Singularly or collectively, they use profanity, visit a strip club and drink. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this action/drama that's been rated R. Profanity consists of at least 138 "f" words, while plenty of other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Sexually explicit dialogue is present, as are several sexual encounters (with varying amounts of nudity, movement and sounds), topless strippers, other scantly clad women, and a provocative lap dance in a bra and underwear. Violence consists of many people being shot and killed by various means (gunfire, explosions, etc.), a bad RV crash, people beating up or otherwise striking others and the severing of an arm from a live body via a shotgun. Various moments of that have rather bloody/gory results, while some of those scenes and other moments of peril might be unsettling or suspenseful to some viewers. Various characters have varying degrees of bad attitudes, while some of the material might be enticing for some kids to imitate. Characters drink and/or smoke, while purposeful (pot, cocaine) and unwitting (mescaline) drug use occurs, and some brief tense family material (regarding real and believed familial deaths) is briefly present. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, some of that occurs in various scenes. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are many instances of bouncy or jumpy camerawork throughout the film (some done in close-up, thus exacerbating the effect), as well as some spin-around shots. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE A woman has a beer. Miscellaneous people drink. Domino and Choco have beer. Pauline has a drink. Ed and Domino have beer in a montage. Kimmie says that Mark (her boss) has the attention span of a ferret on crystal meth, with someone mentioning they've seen that. Bishop's assistant has a drink. Spotting Ryan smoking what appears to be pot, Mark asks "Is that a joint?" We see a mafioso's sons snorting cocaine at a party where other young people drink (we also see a keg there). Choco has a beer. Claremont drinks. The TV show hosts drink shots. A woman spikes some coffee with Mescaline, thus making the unwitting people who drink it hallucinate from being high. We then see various visuals that are supposed to represent those characters' drug-induced states and points of view. After a bad RV accident, an injured Choco comes out laughing, still under the influence of the drug. A person comments on another having mescaline in their system but then notes that it's probably nothing new for them. BLOOD/GORE With all of the rapid cuts, jump cuts, moving camera shots and attempted artsy composition and more, some of the following isn't seen in full. We see dried blood from Domino's nose and on the side of her face as she's being interrogated. A severed arm is thrown to the floor as proof of having the rest of the person, and we see blood on the stump. We then see the victim who has a bloody stump on his body. A man is very bloody. We see skulls on the crew's RV. We hear that Ed has irritable bowel syndrome, but nothing more is made of that. Choco grabs a guy around the neck and bashes him against a wall, bloodying his mouth. Domino punches one of the TV hosts in the face, bloodying his nose. Ed shows that he's missing a toe on his foot (from long ago), adding that it wasn't from a prison riot but instead was self-inflicted. To sever a man's arm from his body, Choco places a shotgun against it and blasts away, ripping the rest of it off with his hands. We see blood there, some blast out through a window and some splatter onto the adjacent TV show hosts. After a bad RV accident, various members of the crew are bloody to varying degrees. Many people are very bloody during and after a massive gun battle. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE All of those involved in criminal activity and/or framing of others (and thus endangering their lives) obviously have bad attitudes. We hear that $10 million was stolen from an armored car. A young guy wants Lateesha to make him several fake drivers license ids. She's reluctant, but he gets belligerent, reminds her who's in charge (a third party) and she reluctantly agrees. As a child, young Domino takes a quarter from a church's offering. We see a flashback to young Domino as a model who grabs another model by the hair and throws her to the floor. We hear Domino saying she hated everyone in high school and college. We see Domino and other girls in a sorority hazing bit. The girls are in their bras and panties and the sisters spray paint on their bodies and one jokes about Domino's "mosquito bites" (small breasts -- which we see in close-up in her bra). One then asks Domino what it's like having the body of a 12-year-old boy. In response, Domino asks her tormentor if she's had a nose job. The sister says no, prompting Domino to punch her in the face hard and twice. Domino catches Ed and Choco trying to skip out of a bounty hunter seminar midway through (where they've been paid to conduct it). A man gives "the finger" in his police mug shot. Lateesha and other black women are referred to as "sassy black women." It's mentioned that Claremont has many mistresses, including Lateesha. Kimmie says that Mark (her boss) has the attention span of a ferret on crystal meth. There's a segment where Lateesha shows up on the Jerry Springer Show, talking about ethnic minority mixes, giving them names such as "Black-tino," "Chi-negro," "Japanic" and more (some may see that as a bad attitude). We then hear that Lateesha is a grandmother at the age of 29, with a woman saying there's another category for Lateesha (on the Jerry Springer Show), saying "It's called birth control, bitch." There are other racist comments made on the show. We hear that Lateesha's granddaughter has a rare blood disease. When Lateesha complains that the medical care the girl needs isn't covered by her insurance, her boss says that she should have thought about that before she became a grandmother. She replies with something smart and he then fires her. Claremont intends to do an insider armored car heist to get money for Lateesha's granddaughter who needs medical care for a rare blood disease. The feds don't let a mafioso know that his sons are really alive, thus allowing him to carry out a violent vengeance on others, all to the benefit of the feds. A woman spikes some coffee with Mescaline, thus making the unwitting people who drink it hallucinate from being high. After receiving a call from an African American agent, a white mafioso says something like "We have a Negro deep throat here." FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling or suspenseful to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. Domino, Ed and Choco go on a raid, but end up getting into a gun standoff with many armed people inside a house. It seems that four young men, lined up by some thugs, are mowed down by machine gun fire, but we later learn that's not the case (as we see the film rewind and their bodies come up off the ground with the bullets going in reverse, etc. -- all symbolic that they weren't really shot). To sever a man's arm from his body, Choco places a shotgun against it and blasts away, ripping the rest of it off with his hands. We see blood there, some blast out through a window and some splatter onto the adjacent TV show hosts. The crew experiences a bad crash in their RV where the vehicle rolls several times, severely injuring some of those inside. As various groups head for and then converge at the top of Vegas' Stratosphere (most of them heavily armed), we know that some bags contain explosives. A massive, several minute gun battle breaks out in the top of the Stratosphere between various groups, while Feds in hovering choppers fire from the outside in. One such chopper is hit and crashes to the ground, exploding (we don't see the actual impact). Many people inside are wounded or killed and most of them are very bloody. Some in Domino's crew are wounded from gunfire, prompting her to grab two machine guns and mow down various people with them. As Domino heads down from the top of the Stratosphere in an elevator with others, a person remains up top. As he's approached by others who prepare to shoot and kill him, he sets off a large number of explosives, resulting in a massive explosion that vaporizes some men, blasts out the windows and part of the structure, and sends Domino's elevator plummeting down the shaft from twenty some stories up. She survives, but others don't. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Shotguns/Machine guns/Switchblade/Nunchakus/Explosives: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others and/or cause property damage. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "F*cking ass," "Shut the f*ck up," "F*ck you," "F*cker," "Who the f*ck you're dealing with here," "F*ck 'em (all)," "This is f*cking disgusting," "What the f*ck /is this (sh*t)/you want?" "Where the f*ck are you going?" "Jesus f*cking Christ," "Two of the coolest m*therf*ckers who ever lived," "F*ck off," "What's your f*cking problem?" "Barbara f*cking Bush," "F*ck yeah," "F*cking cute," "F*cking broads are all nuts," "F*cked up," "Cluster-f*ck," "For f*ck's sake," "Don't f*ck around," "Are you f*cking crazy?" "C*ck-f*cker," "F*ck, this sh*t is intense," "We are so f*cked," "You can f*ck off," "You don't have sh*t," "Enough of that little girl sh*t," "Bullsh*t," "What is this sh*t?" "Sh*t-hole," "Sh*t-bag," "Holy sh*t," "Want to ride some bounty hunter c*ck?" "D*ckhead," "Luscious t*ts," "Watch your ass on this," "Listen bitches," "Hell yeah," "Kick ass," "Bitch," "Losers," "Black-tino," "Chi-negro," "Japanic," "Not a chance in hell," "Shut up," "Tough chick thing," "Whore," "Don't go G*ddamn King Kong," "Whip your ass" and "None of your G*ddamn business." The fighting and other stunts as well as tough attitudes that occur in the film might be enticing for some kids to imitate. A woman has a tattoo. Domino wears various midriff-revealing tops. Catching Ed and Choco trying to skip out of a bounty hunter seminar midway through (where they've been paid to conduct it), Domino throws her switchblade at their car, impaling the windshield with it. Domino, Ed, Choco and others have varying degrees of tattoos. To resolve a standoff and get the man they want, Domino tells the leader of the other group that she'll do a lap dance for him and then does so. A man gives "the finger" in his police mug shot. There's a segment where Lateesha shows up on the Jerry Springer Show, talking about ethnic minority mixes, giving them names such as "Black-tino," "Chi-negro," "Japanic" and more. In a flashback, young Alf gives "the finger." A mafia guy makes a call in a plastic bubble in his swimming pool (to keep the FBI from eavesdropping on it). We see Alf pouring gasoline from a pump out into a parking lot while posing for a photo. A woman spikes some coffee with Mescaline, thus making the unwitting people who drink it hallucinate from being high. We see that four men have been buried alive up to their necks, but are otherwise okay. A person has a piercing stud in their face next to their nose. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A moderate amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) Songs contain an extreme amount of profanity as well as some sexually related lyrics such as "shake that booty" and "I want a nasty girl" and another about a girlfriend passed out on the floor. PROFANITY At least 138 "f" words (17 used with "mother," 2 used sexually, with at least one more bleeped out), 25 "s" words (with at least 1 more bleeped out), 3 slang terms using male genitals ("c*ck" and "d*ck"), 3 using female ones ("p*ssy," "c*nts" and "sn*tch"), 1 for breasts ("t*ts"), 9 asses, 8 hells, 2 damns, 11 uses of "G-damn," 3 of "Jesus Christ," 2 each of "God" and "Jesus" and 1 use each of "Christ," "Oh God," "Oh my God" and "Swear to God." SEX/NUDITY With all of the rapid cuts, jump cuts, moving camera shots and attempted artsy composition and more, some of the following isn't seen in full. Lateesha shows some cleavage. We see Domino and other girls in a sorority hazing bit. The girls are in their bras and panties and the sisters spray paint on their bodies and one jokes about Domino's "mosquito bites" (small breasts -- which we see in close-up in her bra). One then asks Domino what it's like having the body of a 12-year-old boy. The camera focuses on Domino's clothed butt as she walks into a seminar while provocatively dressed (tight pants, a very small top), with all of the men there staring at her (we see her lower bare back). Claremont is distracted by her appearance and one man asks her "Want to ride some bounty hunter c*ck?" To resolve a standoff and get the man they want, Domino tells the leader of the other group that she'll do a lap dance for him, telling him "You know you want it." She then proceeds to do that in just her small bra and panties (we see many views of her) while the other men cheer on her and him in a lascivious fashion. Domino watches as Choco strips down to just his briefs in a Laundromat. A guy runs his finger in and out of a gun barrel to simulate sex. We see Domino doing some sexy riding on a mechanical bull. It's mentioned that Claremont has many mistresses, including Lateesha. The camera is on a woman's butt in a swimsuit. About Domino, Choco tells Ed, "Maybe you should f*ck her mom too." Domino asks her mom, "Did you f*ck Frank Sinatra? Her mom replies, "Who didn't?" We hear that Lateesha is a grandmother at the age of 29, with a woman saying there's another category for Lateesha (on the Jerry Springer Show) - "It's called birth control, bitch." We see a male mafioso in a small bathing suit. A recovering male sex addict addresses other such people, saying that horniness is out of control in today's society. He then mentions all porno all the time and then says that phase one would be masturbation. He also tells the ladies not to abuse their dogs with peanut butter "sn*tch" (meaning using that to get dogs to perform oral sex on them). The camera focuses on Domino's butt in her tight jeans. We see various large paintings of scantly clad women on the outside of the RV, such as one with a low-cut top that shows the tops of her bare breasts and another showing a woman's bare back with a low-riding towel showing the top of her bare butt. One TV show host tells another that they need to go to a strip club to celebrate. We see Ed watching a porno tape in his motel room. We see a bare-breasted woman's body moving from unseen sexual contact and then see a man thrusting (all with related sounds). Ed then complains that they never show the "cum shots." Mad at Ed, Choco throws a chair into the TV, stopping the display. Ed then says that he's going to Domino's room to create their own ending of the porno. We see bare-breasted dancers in small bottoms (that show much of their bare butts) cavorting about on the stage in a strip club. Two clothed women try to entice a man to see a woman with "luscious t*ts," but do so to nab him. We then see another scantly clad dancer. As seen through various jump cuts and other rapid edits, Choco and Domino stand in a desert and start undressing, resulting in both being shirtless and making out. We see her bare breasts and brief views of her bare butt, as well as him on top of her. Domino tries to taunt Taryn sexually, asking if her tattoo is "somewhere nasty." She then says that when Taryn goes to bed "it's my p*ssy you'll be dreaming of." We see an underwater view of Domino swimming in a small bikini. SMOKING Domino smokes at least 10 times, Ed, Choco, Lateesha, Bishop (cigars) and one of the TV hosts each smoke several times, Claremont and Pauline each smoke at least once, while a number of minor and miscellaneous characters smoke cigarettes or cigars in various scenes. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We see a flashback to the funeral of Domino's father and see the casket being lowered into the ground as young Domino watches. A mobster and his wife grieve over the deaths of their sons (not realizing they're still alive). TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT The real Domino Harvey and the tremendous amount of artistic license taken with her character and story. Bounty hunters. Reality TV shows. Domino states that Choco fancied her, but was too shy to do anything about it. The comment that you have to know when to cash out. We hear that Domino's mother sent her off to boarding school at a young age. We hear that Domino, following the death of her pet fish, never had any emotional involvement in any one thing after that, saying it just sets you up for pain. We see Domino and other girls in a sorority hazing bit. To resolve a standoff and get the man they want, Domino tells the leader of the other group that she'll do a lap dance for him and then does so. We hear that Lateesha is a grandmother at the age of 29. We hear that Lateesha's granddaughter has a rare blood disease. When Lateesha complains that the medical care the girl needs isn't covered by her insurance, her boss says that she should have thought about that before she became a grandmother. She replies with something smart and he then fires her. The comment that there are the rich, the poor and those in between. VIOLENCE With all of the rapid cuts, jump cuts, moving camera shots and attempted artsy composition and more, some of the following isn't seen in full. Domino and her crew arrive at the Fender compound, with the mother firing a shotgun blast at them. She also lets her vicious dog after them, but it's fired upon and then escapes and is unharmed. She fires at them again with her shotgun (causing property damage). Some of the crew repeatedly kick a guy on the ground. We see a flashback to young Domino as a model who grabs another model by the hair and throws her to the floor. We see Domino and other girls in a sorority hazing bit. Domino ends up asking her tormentor if she's had a nose job. The sister says no, prompting Domino to punch her in the face hard and twice. Catching Ed and Choco trying to skip out of a bounty hunter seminar midway through (where they've been paid to conduct it), Domino throws her switchblade at their car, impaling the windshield with it. Domino, Ed and Choco go on a raid, but end up getting into a gun standoff with many armed people inside a house. There's a big gun battle between opposing forces. A man hits another man after a standoff. In a flashback, we see that young Alf causes a large truck to explode, with the resultant force blowing him through the air (seen in slow motion). Choco grabs a guy around the neck and bashes him against a wall, bloodying his mouth. Domino and her crew crash a party to nab some guys, with Choco getting one by the eyes and Domino using her nunchakus around another's neck and sending him to the floor. Choco then throws a TV down onto a car to stop another guy from escaping (he grabs, pins the guy to the ground and cuffs him). Domino punches one of the TV hosts in the face, bloodying his nose. Ed grabs one guy by the hair, while Choco grabs a cameraman by the throat. Mad at Ed, Choco throws a chair into the TV he's watching. That leads to some violent contact between the two with Ed punching Choco who then holds a gun on Ed. It seems that four young men, lined up by some thugs, are mowed down by machine gun fire, but we later learn that's not the case (as we see the film rewind and their bodies come up off the ground with the bullets going in reverse, etc. -- all symbolic that they weren't really shot). We see an RV explode (presumably empty), all the handiwork of Alf. To sever a man's arm from his body, Choco places a shotgun against it and blasts away, ripping the rest of it off with his hands. We see blood there, some blast out through a window and some splatter onto the adjacent TV show hosts. The crew experiences a bad crash in their RV where the vehicle rolls several times, severely injuring some of those inside. A massive, several minute gun battle breaks out in the top of the Stratosphere between various groups, while Feds in hovering choppers fire from the outside in. One such chopper is hit and crashes to the ground, exploding (we don't see the actual impact). Many people inside are wounded or killed and most of them are very bloody. Some in Domino's crew are wounded from gunfire, prompting her to grab two machine guns and mow down various people with them. As Domino heads down from the top of the Stratosphere in an elevator with others, a person remains up top. As he's approached by others who prepare to shoot and kill him, he sets off a large number of explosives, resulting in a massive explosion that vaporizes some men, blasts out the windows and part of the structure, and sends Domino's elevator plummeting down the shaft from twenty some stories up. She survives, but others don't. Reviewed September 29, 2005 / Posted October 14, 2005

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