Domino

Directed by Brian De Palma, Domino follows Copenhagen cop Christian Toft (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) as he sets out to avenge the murder of his partner (Søren Malling’s Lars) at the hands of a mysterious figure named Ezra Tarzi (Eriq Ebouaney) – with complications ensuing after CIA agent (Guy Pearce’s Joe) arrives on the scene with his own reasons for wanting to find Ezra. It’s a complicated setup that’s employed to watchable yet entirely forgettable effect by De Palma, as the filmmaker, working from Petter Skavlan’s screenplay, delivers an erratically-paced thriller that’s been hard-wired with a whole host of lamentably low-rent elements – with, especially, the flat, styleless visuals and oddly chintzy score (by longtime De Palma mainstay Pino Donaggio!) exacerbating the movie’s less-than-cinematic atmosphere. There’s little doubt, then, that Domino benefits from its relatively compelling narrative and De Palma’s sporadic reliance on the directorial flourishes with which he’s associated, with the latter particularly true of a climactic sequence that unfolds entirely in slow motion and ensures that the whole thing concludes on a positive note – which, when coupled with its assortment of better-than-average performances, cements the picture’s place as a passable work from a filmmaker whose best days are clearly well behind him.

**1/2 out of ****