Dom Hemingway

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. (04/11/2015)

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." (12/10/2015)

Jude Law shows how interesting of an actor he actually is and presents himself as a truly repulsive character, who, however, was more tolerable for me than James McAvoy's character in the movie "Filth". Especially the first half got me, because Jude here was truly disgustingly irresistible. The story itself didn't seem that exceptional to me anymore, and in the end, I didn't even care how it turned out. (30/04/2014)