Review of Straw Dogs (1971) by Alex S — 07 Jun 2010

Just like neon orange pants, you either love this or despise it with every fiber in your body. And just like neon orange pants, you can see that logic coming from a mile away - everyone in this is hard to root for, a pivotal scene involving the rape of a character changes everything and the last 20 minutes are a methodical massacre.

Not exactly a triumvirate of elements that scream out "Hey, watch me for two hours!" but they all do contribute to a smart and challenging film that ends so bleakly, you would want your money back had the experience not been so incredible.

I'm not even going to go into the meaning of the title, the many theories and implications of whether or not the rape victim is "enjoying herself" or even the belief that violence is essential to existence.

All that psychological stuff is for another conversation and not for a movie review, although you have to give credit to Peckinpah for creating such a polarizing work that gets folks talking and analyzing and fuming and punching and retreating and giving up on rational thought.

Dustin Hoffman and Susan George head to a small European village so he can concentrate on his work (he's a math professor who apparently cannot concentrate around student life on campus, war protests, etc.

). The locals are a circus of angry individuals who victimize the new couple for their own sadistic pleasures and when things go too far, Hoffman fights back as only the best math professor can - which means you won't see him shooting off machine guns while he jumps out of an exploding jeep he crashed into the enemy bunker; think restrictive wire, boiling water thrown onto people, a bear trap swung into someone's face, etc.

It takes some time for things to get moving which could theoretically be argued as drawing us in with our victims for the pressure cooker of existence they are experiencing but good luck really getting behind either of them - Hoffman's character is dull and George's gal definitely has some issues going on.

It's no doubt a difficult film to watch and it isn't even Peckinpah's best but there definitely is nothing else like it (and in this case, that's a good thing).