MOVIE OF THE WEEK #2 (9/16/11): STRAW DOGS
KEY CAST MEMBERS: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård, Dominic Purcell, Laz Alonso, Willa Holland and James Woods
WRITER(S): David Zelag Goodman and Sam Peckinpah (original ABC movie screenplay); Gordon Williams (novel, "The Siege of Trencher’s Farm")
DIRECTOR: Rod Lurie
WEB SITE: www.strawdogsmovie.com
THE PLOT: A remake of the 1971 movie of the same name, the 2011 version of Straw Dogs finds James Marsden portraying the role of David Sumner as first made famous by Dustin Hoffman. A Hollywood screenwriter, David is moving to Blackwater, Mississippi with his wife Amy (Kate Bosworth), a native of the area who struck it big working on a TV show where the couple first met. The couple is looking to fix up the large home left to them by Amy's now deceased dad, which is where Charlie Venner (Alexander Skarsgård) comes in.
Charlie, you see, is a roofer - which is exactly what David and Amy need to repair the damage done to their estate's barn following a hurricane. And Charlie, along with his boys - Chris (Billy Lush), Bic (Drew Powell) and Norman (Rhys Coir) - like to work hard and play even harder. At least they don't fly off the handle as quickly as "Coach" Tom Heddon (James Woods) does, especially when the mentally challenged Jeremy Niles (Dominic Purcell) is anywhere in the vicinity of his daughter Janice (Willa Holland). It certainly makes for a lot of work for John Burke (Laz Alonso), head of the local Sheriff's office.
But while Amy is happy to be back home in Blackwater, David, it seems, is having a hard time adjusting to many of the local customs and traits ... As are locals like Charlie and his crew to him. As Charlie and company start work on his home, David finds his nerves - and his manhood - being worked on soon thereafter. Little by little, all the tension builds slowly over time ... With a rather nasty incident at home accelerating the wick leading to the powder keg of explosion waiting to go off at any second.
Especially when a man pushed too far by a bunch of "straw dogs" reaches his breaking point ...
THE TAKE: Having never seen the Sam Peckinpah version, I purposely avoided anything having to do with the original Straw Dogs as soon as I heard of the announced remake. I wanted to come into the film fresh with no preconceived notions of what to expect, what did or did not measure up between the two films and more importantly, what exactly the story was and how it unfolded.
I can't say that it was a problem I was able to figure out most of the story ahead of time (I mean, I could have cheated and done that and it IS a remake, so they have to stick pretty true to the original idea) ... The problem I DID find, however, is that I really didn't care about David and Amy's plight once the story starts to unfold.
I don't really know where I would begin to start pointing fingers. I mean, there is the bit of heavy-handed camera work where you can tell peril is a'comin'. Also, there are moments where you think to yourself how come David and Amy don't call Burke for help. (The couple in the original didn't, so again, I have to let that slide ... I guess.) Then again, there's also the notions of how oblivious David (and to some degree, Amy) are about how they are being perceived and the ways in which they are feeding into those perceptions.
Side note rant: Let me say this now - I know Bosworth's character has to wear a lot of tight fitting clothes (which is commented on in the movie as part of the story), but good grief! If this movie was in 3D, let's just say one of her "outfits" would have poked my eyes out. OK, back to the review ...
All of these factors, however, is what creates the biggest problem: At a certain point, you quit caring for David and Amy and just start looking forward to the free-for-all, violent battle royale finale. In trying to craft a sense of tension, writer/director Rod Lurie instead builds a frustrated sense of anticipation where you begin to care less about the story and just want the payoff of the story's climax.
Think of it this way - what's more compelling in boxing: A fight where one side jabs, jabs, jabs, tries to throw a knockout punch and then gets KO'd ... Or a fight between two evenly contested opponents with twists and turns before an epic final round? If you're thinking the first one works well as it pertains to this version of Straw Dogs, you might be the one laid flat out on the canvas ... Or screaming for blood.
A story, of course, has to build to a climax; a great movie, however, can't make the journey to that climax too predictable that it feels anti-climatic right up and to said point. While I can't compare the acting in this version to the original (having not seen the original), I can say it's a lot like the film itself: Not bad, but not dynamic - more just effective enough to do the job for the most part. In the end, you just don't care about Bosworth and Marsden's characters as individuals as much as you do just want to see them fight back because you KNOW the fight sequence will be interesting.
PARTING SHOT: A film that will keep you watching with the occasional squirm, Straw Dogs ultimately proves it has more bark than bite ... Fortunately, that the bite is still strong enough to make you beware.
RATING (OUT OF FOUR BUCKETS OF POPCORN):
I have to say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
ReplyDeleteSo tired of remakes. They could have easily done this same plotline differently.