CHILD OF HOLLYWOOD PLAYS SURREAL GAME IN 'DOMINO'.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

BEFORE TOM WAITS appeared as a desert prophet; before the guys from ``90210'' were turned into celebrity hostages; before the big Vegas landmark (which, last I checked, was still there) got blown to smithereens ....

Before all of that, I got the feeling that ``Domino'' wasn't the most accurate biopic of Domino Harvey that they could've made. In fact, aside from a few basic details, the whole thing's a super-adrenalized fabrication. Which is nuts, considering that the late Domino's real life - Hollywood love child, bounty hunter, drug casualty - was dramatic enough.

But give it up to director Tony Scott and screenwriter Richard Kelly - ``Domino,'' a nonstop assault of cognitive dissonance, is an apt, if daft tribute to a life utterly misled.

The movie stars sweet English rose Keira Knightley as the snarling, combative, permanently depressed and intrinsically isolated daughter of actor Laurence Harvey. Knightley gets a complex characterization across effectively and all slathered in a load of bravado. Not only that, she helps us keep the plot straight - at least to the extent that it can be deciphered - with not just one but two voice-over narrations, one delivered to the audience and the other, less reliable account for the benefit of a federal investigator (Lucy Liu).

The movie chops up story strands and time frames, and tosses around discordant visual elements in a way that those who hate ``Top Gun'' director Scott's British TV commercial style will find intolerable. But the mitigating factor here is that the tale itself is as baroquely ingenious as Kelly's quirky masterpiece, ``Donnie Darko.''

And the script's digressions are, often, even more absurdly imaginative. They may have nothing to do with the life of Domino Harvey, but they're a riot and add up to a remarkably comprehensive critique of modern American trash culture.

Once the unfocused Domino hooks up with a team of skip-tracers (Mickey Rourke, Edgar Ramirez) who work for South L.A. bail bondsman and incessant operator Claremont Williams III (Delroy Lindo), she discovers her place in the world - and all hell breaks loose. A sleazy reality TV producer (Christopher Walken) creates a show around Domino's antics, hosted by Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green - played by Ian Ziering and Brian Austin Green.

Meanwhile, a lunatic plot to heist mob money for a life-saving operation embroils our heroine and her crew, with implications that reverberate all the way from the Department of Motor Vehicles to Afghanistan. Somehow, Jerry Springer, a misunderstood order to sever limbs and mescaline-laced coffee work their way into the scenario.

It's all presented at the highest volume possible, every expletive and shotgun round. Scott's stroboscopic style is sure to induce nausea in some. No way around it; ``Domino'' is bad-trip cinema all the way. And that's one of the hardest things in the business to do well, whether you can tolerate it or not.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

DOMINO - Three stars

(R: violence, sex, nudity, drug use, language)

Starring: Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, Edgar Ramirez, Delroy Lindo, Mo'Nique, Brian Austin Green, Ian Ziering.

Director: Tony Scott.

Running time: 2 hr. 8 min.

Playing: In wide release.

In a nutshell: About 10 percent the life of L.A. bounty hunter Domino Harvey, 90 percent satiric, super-complicated, all-chopped-up action movie insanity. Fun - if it doesn't give you seizures.

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