Big Picture Big Sound

This Domino Fell

Brian De Palma's career spans over 50 years, and he has made his bones directing suspense, psychological thrillers, and crime dramas. He has a long list of films that you have probably seen unless you restrict yourself exclusively to children's fare and insipid rom-coms. If you're all about G and PG films, stop reading. You really shouldn't be here.

Some of De Palma's films that you may have run into are "Carrie,” “Dressed to Kill,” "Scarface,” "The Untouchables,”  and "Mission Impossible.” A couple of these forced some viewers to turn on all the lights if they were watching at home, and no doubt some picked up a solid, blunt instrument and kept it by their side, just in case.

"Passion,” De Palma's most recent film, was released in 2012. In 2019, at the age of 79, he is back with "Domino,” yet another thriller. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is Christian, a Danish cop who is partnered with the older Lars (Soren Malling). They are responding to a domestic disturbance call.

They catch the perpetrator (Eriq Ebouaney) and Lars stays with him. Christian has forgotten his gun, borrows Lars's, and investigates the original site of the crime. When he returns, Lars is dead from stab wounds and the perp is gone. Christian goes after the perp and their struggle ends with both of them falling from a roof. As Christian wakes from the fall, he sees two men dragging the perp away.

The rest of "Domino" is filled with political intrigue, the CIA, and a story that heads off in a couple directions. The problem, or at least what I felt was the biggest problem, was that I could not have cared less how it would eventually resolve. To be clear, it's not the only problem.

I'm not sure why De Palma didn't put out a film for seven years, but the wait wasn't worth it. Instead of watching this, you'd be much better served going back to “Scarface” and watching Pacino yell, "Say hello to my little friend!” for the umpteenth time. This domino has fallen and needn't be picked up.