Movie review: Jude Law shines in ‘Dom Hemingway'

There are many things you can take away with you after a viewing of "Dom Hemingway": the combination of dark and funny writing, the oddball collection of characters, the twisting storyline, the difficulty of figuring out who you should have been rooting for. But the one ingredient that will stand out, as it should, is the tour de force performance by Jude Law as the outrageous title character.

The film's opening frames feature Law's Dom Hemingway in jail, addressing the camera, or maybe just enjoying the sound of his own voice, going on and on, eloquently, about a certain body part of which he is very proud. It's a long, profane monologue, just one of many that fill out the film's script, and it's uncomfortably funny.

But before you can get over the speech and the way Law delivers it, Dom is a free man, having finished the 12-years stretch he did for a crime someone else committed (though he is a professional safecracker). Yes, there is loyalty among thieving louts, and Dom took the rap for his former boss, the wealthy and dangerous Russian ex-pat Mr. Fontaine (Demian Bichir). It's to Fontaine's posh home in the south of France that Dom and his best pal Dickie Black (Richard E. Grant) head to collect the cash reward Dom feels is coming his way from Mr. Fontaine, who appears to have the same thoughts.

It's made clear early on that Dom has no respect for authority. The first example of that is his visit to a bar where he's told he can't smoke but continues to puff away. Things later on approach low levels of intensity when there's a confrontation of words with that former boss, at one time his authority figure. It gets a bit hairier when Dom gets a look - and a longtime jailbird's yearning - for Mr. Fontaine's gorgeous girlfriend Paolina (Madalina Diana Ghenea).

What follows is a series of insults and follow-up apologies, with everything coming out OK in the wash. There's a great deal of smoking and drinking and cursing ... especially cursing, presented in a variety of inventive ways. There are also crimes committed against criminals, attempts to take such things in stride, and, failing to follow that line of thinking, plans for retribution.

This is a sometimes serious drama. Dom is a ne'er do well who hangs out with the wrong people, commits terrible acts, has a way with words and a natural charm to match. He's also slightly addled at the way the world works, and his reactions to it and to other people are what give the film its black humor. Just know that it's OK to laugh.

It's OK even when the film reverts back to the nervous tension that keeps kicking in and out, even when Dom, whose wife died while he was in prison, tracks down Evie (Emilia Clarke, who plays dragon-loving Daenerys Targaryen on "Game of Thrones"), the daughter he hasn't seen in 12 years and who doesn't want to see him ever again.

It's writer-director Richard Shepard's ("The Matador") script that lines up the laughs, but it's Law and the terrific chemistry he has with straight man and voice of reason Grant who make them work. The film loses its way a little when concentrating on the less-interesting character of Lestor (Jumayn Hunter), yet another criminal with whom Dom has a shaky past.

But everything keeps bouncing back when the focus is on Dom. His life consists of very good and very bad luck. He's completely full of himself but is well aware of his shortcomings. He wants to be a better man but doesn't know how to begin. He's vile and vulgar, but he's oddly likeable. He is certainly Jude Law's juiciest role to date, and his performance is by far the best thing about the film. When it comes down to the story's ending, it's left open, with suggestions of which way it might turn. That's not a problem, because you'll have a pretty good idea what's going to happen next. Still, it's too bad the film didn't continue for another three minutes, just to be sure.

"Dom Hemingway" is rated R. With Jude Law, Richard E. Grant, Demian Bichir and Emilia Clarke.