MovieChat Forums > Dom Hemingway (2013) Discussion > Just to be cool?

Just to be cool?

posted 10 years ago by cristina_milovan
7 replies | jump to latest

To me, for a movie to be good, it has to make me feel something. Love, hatred, disgust etc...

Dom Hemingway, as a character, didn't make me feel anything. There was nothing that made me feel for the character. He did not have a single trait which made him relatable.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of antihero films and I really loved Filth (which people seem to compare with Dom Hemingway). But there was something in the way that McAvoy portrayed his character that spoke to me or, at least, that made me relate somehow (a humanity, real feelings).

In my opinion, the director wasn't successful in creating a connection with Dom or any of the other characters. The story was sloppy and I found myself not caring whether he rebuilt a relationship with his daughter. There is not a single episode throughout the film where I felt even a shred of sympathy for him.

It seemed like one of those movies that are just made to be cool. It reminded me a lot of Guy Ritchie films which are not to my liking (so you get where I'm coming from). There wasn't any real backbone to the story, apart from Jude Law there were no memorable performances (yes, while I did not like the film, Law is a good actor), and there were a lot of subplots which were left hanging (like how it's implied that Lestor would not go after Dom, really?).

It seemed like the director was too preoccupied with making the film look cool (fast editing, cocaine use, 'witty banter' between the characters) to give a real strong identity to the film.

If you disagree, fair enough! It would be interesting to know why, though.

[–] Ghosthunter123424 10 years ago

Could you add some proper paragraphs please? That wall of text is atrocious.

[–] cristina_milovan 10 years ago

I apologize if my layout prevented you from reading the content of my post.

Now, if you would be so kind as to actually reply to my post with your thoughts and comments, I would very much appreciate it. Thank you!

[–] Ghosthunter123424 10 years ago

I pretty much agree almost entirely.

A lot of people credit the film for it's opening scene and monologue, I thought the actual dialogue was laughably weak and the scene itself seemed to be an attempt to recreate the impact of similar scenes in Deadwood (Al Swearengen occasionally delivers a monologue of his thoughts while receiving..attention)

Overall the script/screenplay is the weakest part of the film. Jude Law and Richard E Grant are fine actors who did their best. I occasionally got vibes of Tom Hardy's Bronson in Jude Law's performance. In fact the more I watched, the more I thought this film might have been made by the same people.

As for the Guy Ritchie remark. Lock, Stock and Snatch were great because all of the elements, script, screenplay, acting, cinematography,sound, post processing, were all really tight.

Ritchie may have bitten off more than he could handle with Revolver and tried way too hard with the Sherlock Holmes movies, enjoyable as they were, they did seem over-stylised.

Also, I think Filth is incredibly overrated. McAvoy was a much more relatable character, but that's another example of a director trying too hard to be stylistically edgy.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] CodeVeronicaXXX 10 years ago

I sympathized with him, heck at his wife's grave scene he made me cry. I cheered with him and cried with him. More so I wanted to own his traits. He was just a cool character and I was trying to lift anything I could from him. That's what made him relatable for me.

[–] Zuider_Zee 9 years ago

I had to feel sympathy for the eternal f**ck up but I could have done without the daughter subplot.

[–] canootincrisis 8 years ago

I worked with this one Canadian chef from somewhere or other in Manitoba that used to tell a story about how he followed Porcupine Tree around on tour and chilled in the greenroom with the band a couple times. 4 months later he was doing warm up sets for Chris Maitland as a stand in favour.

I've heard my dad tell a story about a road trip down the coast that has changed novels over the past 25 years or so.

Dom is larger than life and an allegory of sorts for embellishment.

Dom isn't cool, Dom is a *beep* The legend of Dom is what is cool.

That said I am Aussie and crave a good Brit crime flick even if Britsploitation hence my open arms for the likes of Danny Dyer and questionable Ray Winstone titles.