Dom Hemingway

From the first moment of the movie when we are ‘treated to a rambling monologue from Jude Law using the type of extravagant language no self respecting gangster would use the tone is set. Dom Hemingway is a character that could have been interesting and engaging but Jude Law too often over acts catastrophically converting his performance from amusing to embarrassingly ‘hammy’ on far too many occasions. His relationship and interaction with Richard. E. Grant’s Dickie character provides some of the highlights of the movie but the under use of the relationship and dialogue between these characters was bizarre. Far too little character depth or development is provide and as such by the end I didn’t really know or care about who Dom Hemingway really was or what happened to him. Worst of all the relationship with Dom’s estranged daughter Evelyn played by Emelia Clarke was an almost non-existent narrative strand when in reality it could and should have been a cornerstone of the story, the result of the mere suggestion of a father and daughter reconciliation story was so under developed and under used that what the film actually provides is a rather pathetic. The story of a daughter abandoned by an imprisoned father due to his adherence to a ‘criminal code’ could, should and would have provided a worthy central storyline on which the rest of the film could rest, sadly in this case it didn’t. Dom Hemingway as a character and movie falls well short of what it could have been, essentially the movie storyline is: – criminal goes to jail for 12 years for honouring a ‘criminal code’, comes out talking line an extremely angry Royal Shakespearean actor with a cockney accent, gets drunk gets more angry, shouts and swear with, to or act old friends, in passing remembers he has a daughter that he wishes to reconcile with kind of doesn’t The End. Style over substance very disappointing.