Review of Straw Dogs (1971) by Maria N — 30 Dec 2007

"I don't know my way home. " - Henry Niles.

I didn't know quite what to think after viewing Sam Peckinpah's controversial-for-the-day suspense drama 'Straw Dogs'. I kind of liked it, but I was very confused by it. The film starts off a real bore, and then gets a tad interesting about half an hour into it. At the one hour mark it gets consistently entertaining, and the final half-hour of the film is non-stop suspense and thrills. The film is really dull when the first half, and wildly entertaining the second half. Dustin Hoffman gives an astonishing performance as to be expected as the poor Math geek who decides he's not gonna take sh*t from no one anymore, and Susan George is very so-so in her role (she's topless in the film, so that's a plus for all you hound dogs out there). The movie is very brutal and violent in it's final thirty minutes and it contains a very strange and disturbing semi-mutual rape scene towards the middle. This isn't really a film for the weak-stomached, like a lot films of this genre. Sam Peckinpah does a fine job directing, but the screenplay has some major pacing problems and doesn't follow through on a lot of things. I didn't have a clue what to make of the abrupt and confusing ending the film had. I felt it was trying to put across a message, but I have no idea what that message was. In conclusion, 'Straw Dogs' is well worth watching just to see that exhilarating final thirty minutes and to see a very young Dustin Hoffman. Grade: B-.