Directed by:
Richard ShepardScreenplay:
Richard ShepardCinematography:
Giles NuttgensComposer:
Rolfe KentCast:
Jude Law, Richard E. Grant, Demián Bichir, Emilia Clarke, Kerry Condon, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Madalina Diana Ghenea, Jumayn Hunter, Deborah Rosan (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Dom Hemingway (Jude Law) is a larger-than-life safecracker with a loose fuse - funny, profane, and dangerous. Back on the streets of London after twelve years in prison, it's time to collect what he's owed for keeping his mouth shut. Travelling with his devoted best friend (Richard E Grant), Dom visits his crime boss (Demian Bichir) in the south of France to claim his reward. But Dom's drink and drug-fuelled ego decides that what he's lost can't be replaced. One car accident and a femme fatale later (Madalina Diana Ghenea), Dom realizes that his priority must be to reconnect with his long-lost daughter (Emilia Clarke). But Dom does what Dom does best. He screws things up for everyone. (Transmission Films)
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Reviews (4)
An interesting film with a colourful vocabulary. The biggest upside is Jude Law's overacting and lots of interesting wordplay. The very opening scene where Jude Law gives a five minute monologue extolling his genitalia during oral sex is for me one of the best scripted comedic notches. Nicely paced, decently shot. It's unusual and captivated me for a weak four stars. 70%.
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Formally, Dom Hemingway is a follower of the classic British junkie-punk scene, i.e. lots of "walking" takes in extreme long shots to keep the surrounding streets in focus and the mood of most outside influences elusive. The protagonist, however, is the most purely elusive of the lot; he is indeed a walking screenwriting construct (an obviously uneducated boor, but one who incidentally references and metaphorizes cultural works in his flowery monologues) who has no equivalent in the real world, indeed it's in everyone's best interests that he doesn't, but he still makes you nervous the entire time. Too bad about the last act, when all the praise over how it avoids the classic post-prison release themes proves premature and the film presents the usual quest for forgiveness and redemption. This is thankfully despite the hero remaining a bastard forever. "They banned it, smoking." "In a pub? You can’t smoke in a fucking pub?" "Bad for your health." "Being a cunt is bad for your health."
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Jude Law really did go all out in Dom Hemingway. He did so in an almost theatrical manner. The fact that he is crazy has to be counted on. But the wackiness exceeds even biblical proportions at times, and Dom becomes more of a Homer than a gangster, which I didn’t really like. I cannot say that the movie is downright bad. Definitely not. Some scenes are really worth it, for example, the crash. But the crash is also the most significant evidence of what bothered me about this movie. Dom Hemingway is simply unique and watching every next minute of his life was definitely worth it. But I wouldn’t last a minute in his proximity.
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Jude Law demonstrates just how interesting of an actor he truly is, portraying a genuinely despicable character who, for me, was more tolerable than James McAvoy's character in Filth. Especially the first half got me hooked because Jude was truly repulsively irresistible here. The story itself didn't seem all that exceptional to me later on, and in the end, I didn't really care how it turned out.
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Gallery (104)
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