WHO’S IN IT?
Jude Law (Road to Perdition), Richard E. Grant (Withnail and I), Demián Bichir (A Better Life), Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Jumayan Hunter (Attack The Block), Madalina Ghenea (English film debut), Kerry Condon (Ned Kelly), Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Misfits), Jordan Nash (film debut)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Richard Shepard (The Matador), director, writer; Nick O’Hagan (Act of God) and Jeremy Thomas (A Dangerous Method), producers; Rolfe Kent (Sideways), composer; Giles Nuttgens (Young Adam), cinematographer; Dana Congdon (The Basketball Diaries), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Hardened criminal Dom Hemingway (Law) is back on the streets after serving time for twelve years, but he remains determined to get what he is owed for keeping his mouth shut. Travelling with best friend Dickie (Grant) to the south of France to bargain with crime boss Mr. Fontaine (Bichir), a series of incidents forces Dom to reassess his priorities, namely reconnecting with his estranged daughter Evelyn (Clarke) and her new family…
WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
James McAvoy isn’t the only actor getting rough and dirty for a film role nowadays. It’s Jude Law’s turn to play against type as a tough criminal in the new crime comedy Dom Hemingway.
Thankfully, it doesn’t seem as if Law has to go to any psychotically dark places as McAvoy did for Filth, but seeing an actor who we’re all so used to seeing as proper, well-spoken and the obvious romantic interest doing something like this is just as jarring. Sporting a thick Cockney accent and some added weight (13kg of it coming from an unhealthy diet of 10 Coca-Cola drinks a day), Law is near-unrecognisable as the egotistical safecracker of the title. Add in a camp-looking Richard E. Grant as a sidekick character, Demián Bichir as a dangerous crime boss and Emilia Clarke as his daughter (and yes, we were just as surprised as you were when we found out her white hair on Game of Thrones wasn’t real), and the cast is as eclectic and colourful as the title character himself.
Director and writer Richard Shepard, whose previous credits include cult Pierce Brosnan film The Matador, has crafted a caper that’s not short on laughs, thrills and moments of character. Everyone in front of and behind the camera seems to be having a lot of fun getting away with such debauchery, never apologetic nor succumbing to archetypal crime movie clichés. From the outset, it has a feel in similar vein to Dexter Fletcher’s Wild Bill, as well as tonal hints from the likes of Bronson and maybe even Sexy Beast. But Dom Hemingway always strives to keep you guessing about how it’s all going to turn out, even if it’s entirely original or soaked in tired plot beats. Either way, it’s set to be a smashing time.
Like with Filth, it’s going to be the physical and mental transformation of its lead star that is sure to grab everyone’s attention. After being his normal reserved self in this year’s earlier Side Effects, he has been given the opportunity to go all out for a role where inhibitions and limitations are not permitted. After all, a scene in the trailer sees him walking across an open field completely naked, and when is the last time you saw a proper actor like Law do that for a film? Never, that’s when, and if that shouldn’t arouse your curiosity for Dom Hemingway, then we have no idea what will.
