Review of Straw Dogs (2011) by Preston F — 01 Oct 2012

It's been a good fifteen years since I've seen Sam Peckinpah's original "Straw Dogs", so I wasn't too upset when the remake was released just recently. And considering that this version was getting some good reviews from only a handful of critics (Roger Ebert gives it 3 stars), I figured I'd give it a try since it seems that much of the movie-going public was giving it bad reviews.

The story concerns screenwriter David Sumner and his wife, actress Amy Sumner, as they return to Amy's small Mississippi town to rebuild her parent's vacant home after it was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. But as soon as they arrive in the small community, they run across Amy's old high school friends, apparantly led by her ex-boyfriend, Charlie (Alexander Skarsgard).

The locals immediately welcome their hometown hero into its arms, but this stranger she has brought with her...not so much.

Unfortunately, with it being such a small town, and with work needing to be done on the dilapidated home, David has no choice but to hire Charlie and his friends to fix up the house and it all goes downhill from there.

The plot, much like the 1971 film is practically intact (watch out for that bear trap!), as we watch as David tries to remain passive about his increasingly uncomfortable situations -- we become aware that he's the type of person that prefers to avoid any type of confrontation, even to the dismay of his wife.

One morning after jogging, she comes across the workers and stands there in disbelief (and anger) as they leer at her sweaty body, covered only in small jogging shorts and a tank top. When she points out to David what's just happend, all he can do is point out how she's dressed.

Her little act of revenge on him is also a part of what made Peckinpah's version so controversial -- SPOILER ALERT!!!

-- the eventual rape sequence of Amy sets up many questions, especially back in 1971 before "No Means No" became common -- was Amy "asking" for it? What happens to her is in no way justified, but her walking around practically half-naked, flirting, even exposing her breasts at one point...was she fanning the flames with her actions?

She never tells David about what has happened, but becomes even more angry at him as he keeps looking away from the troubling events that have been plaguing the young couple. Even at one point, calling him a coward.

A side story involving a 15 year-old girl's flirtations with a dim-witted town local and the actions her father, who also happens to be the town drunk (played by none other than James Woods) takes, starts off as something minimal, but ends up leading to the film's violent climax...a climax which is also what made the original so controversial -- how a man with no anger or hatred in his heart could be pushed to extremes and how far he has to go in defending his home and family.

In today's world, where violence is seen everday, whether it be on television or in real life, back in 1971, the film's violent conclusion, much like 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde", pushed many people away. Even Dustin Hoffman is said to have hated the finished product of "Straw Dogs".

But these two films have done what many of today's films find hard to do -- endure the test of time.

This version of "Straw Dogs" may not be considered a memorable 20 or 30 years from now...it is, after all, a remake of what many consider a classic. But at least this film prevents itself from turning its characters into cliches or stereotypes. Have you ever met people like the locals David and Amy run into? Have you ever been someplace you didn't feel comfortable, or felt out-of-place, or just plain not welcomed?

Believe me, I have and this film touches on that subject very closely.

In all, "Straw Dogs" is a well-acted, violent, and very tensioned filled movie with an ending that is symbolic of a town's shattered peacefulness, and quite possibly of a man's shattered psyche.