Review of Straw Dogs (1971) by Dylon M — 17 Feb 2010

Hmm, this is gonna be a very hard review. Part of me wants to commend Straw Dogs for its daring originality. Another part of me wants to just give it a 20% and be done with it.

There's a lot to be said about a film like this. Possibly containing one of the most controversial rape scenes in any movie, and some of the most inventive violence as well, Straw Dogs is definitely not a movie for the masses. Sam Peckinpah has surprised audiences before with his brutally violent, and brilliantly directed western "The Wild Bunch". Well it's certainly not lacking in the violence department, however Straw Dogs is lacking, a good bit I might add. Dustin Hoffman is by no means a bad actor. He's a Hollywood alumni, and he's been in some amazing movies giving brilliant and poignant performances. I did not like him in this, though. His ever-changing dialect is back, this time in the form of a high-pitched, stuck-up, American (no racism here, I'm American), and it really annoyed me. Maybe that means he played his role good, since he is supposed to be sort of an annoying guy anyway.

However, there are moments of brilliance in Straw Dogs. Take Susan George for example. She plays the rape victim/wife of Dustin Hoffman. In my opinion, she harvests the best performance of the film. The fact that it wasn't afraid to "go there" is also another plus. Straw Dogs is indeed a controversial film; tackling such topics like Rape, Child Abuse/Molestation, underage sexual advances, problems in society, mental retardation, not to mention the violent and disturbing nature of the whole film. Now that I have reviewed it, I see I was a little off in my views (my original score was 40%). But it isn't at all a bad film. Sure its not near-perfect, and there are a good bit of flaws. Maybe my hopes were too high. Maybe I went into this movie all wrong, expecting another movie of The Wild Bunch's caliber. Whatever it was, I have to admit, I was a tad bit disappointed, and I still am. But after all is said and done, I would say Straw Dogs is worth a watch.