Review of Dom Hemingway (2013) by Simon S — 17 May 2014

Jude Law is a great actor. Many people have only been exposed to him at the capacity of what the Hollywood machine had mass-produced for him ten years ago, which were shlocky, shallow mainstream romantic comedies and dramas. Beyond that, I'd probably have argued (prior to this film) that Jude Law was a great SUPPORTING actor. If it wasn't the eccentric millionaire of Talented Mr. Ripley, then it was the creepy assassin in Road to Perdition or the yin to Robert Downey Jr's. Yang in Sherlock Holmes that showed he's just an aesthetic wingman, versus someone who could helm the ship, himself.

But Dom Hemingway is finally a fit that Jude Law needed, to show the chops the guy truly has as an actor in a lead role. Sporting muttonchops and proper porn 'stache, with the greasy hair of a tried-and-true career criminal and a prolific vocabularity of profanity you'd expect of the career criminal that he plays, he finally showcases an irreverence and boldness to the degree that would make Guy Ritchie blush.

Full of colorful, dodgy characters and a dark comedy twist, Dom Hemingway is just the vehicle that Jude Law needed to show he's more than willing to be anything beyond the pretty boy that most Hollywood studios want to frame him as.