The film is a remake of the 1971 thriller that starred Dustin Hoffman. The original revolved around a young American and his English wife who move to rural England and face increasingly vicious local harassment.
The new "Straw Dogs" follows Los Angeles screenwriter David Sumner (Marsden), who moves with his wife (Bosworth) to her hometown in the deep South. Once there, tensions build in their marriage and old conflicts re-emerge with the locals, leading to a violent confrontation.The original, co-written and directed by Sam Peckinpah, saw Dustin Hoffman in the role of Sumner, with the story set in rural England.Both films are based on the book "The Siege at Trencher's Farm" by Gordon Williams.L.A. screenwriter David Sumner relocates with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. There, while tensions build between them, a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them both.
Movie Review:
1) STRAW DOGS Kicks Ass!,
19 May 2011
by savannapink
I caught a screening of STRAW DOGS last week. Rod Lurie directed a tight film that kicks major ass.
"Firstly, Lurie has assembled a dynamite cast: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard, James Woods and even Walton Goggins (who is absolute nitro-glycerin in FX's Justified) has a small role. The fact that Lurie was able to attract this cast speaks volumes for his reputation. Is this an award-worthy film? No. Is it a good time at the movies? Hell yes! "A Hollywood screenwriter (Marsden) and his wife (Bosworth) are moving into a home in his wife's small rural hometown so he can write his new script, Stalingrad, in peace and tranquility. She had a small role in a TV show he once wrote but we get the impression she's washed up now (she's one of the many Straw Dogs in the film, a.k.a people who peaked to early but are now hollow and easily knocked-around and broken). "Marsden is fantastic in the film. In fact, he's never been better. He exhudes kindness and decency. He plays the soft city boy with a heart. "The happy couple settle into their countryside mansion in the middle of a very isolated forest. In town, they run into Bosworth's old flame (Skarsgard). Skarsgard is everything that Marsden is not -- tall, rugged, manly and dangerous. The quintessential bad boy that all girls are attracted to in their teens but eventually grow out of... or do they?
"There are two themes running through the film. The first (and I'm not too sure I agree with this) is that a man can only be a man if he resorts to violence in order to defend his wife. Lurie also straddles a dangerous line in the film by presenting us with a wife who is a provoker...
Dull, unnecessary remake, 23 June 2011
Author: johnno-17 from Greece
Dull, unnecessary remake, 23 June 2011
Author: johnno-17 from Greece
Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" remains a most disturbing, morally ambiguous confrontation between the brute code of uneducated farmboys with the complex attempts at rationalization by a sophisticated, neurotic, hyper-educated urban college professor attempting to escape the responsibilities of living in an increasingly complex world. It is also a magnificently constructed motion picture, elegantly photographed, brilliantly edited, hauntingly scored, with powerhouse performances from every actor.This wholly unnecessary remake on the other hand is amateurish swill - banal photography, drama-class acting (and why not? all the characters have been reduced to caricature), and soap-opera rewriting. It's basically a television movie with some sex and violence thrown in for the fan-boy crowd. It's even got the requisite car-chases, and supposedly pointed dialog about adultery and motivations, blah blah blah.Graceless, visually dull, with no sympathetic characters, but a lotta boom! crash! foe those who think loud noises and pyrotechnics make up for lack of intelligence and imagination.
Main Cast And Crew
Starring: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård
Dominic Purcell, Laz Alonso, Willa Holland, James Woods
Directed by: Rod Lurie
Produced by: Rod Lurie, Marc Frydman
Screenplay by: Rod Lurie
Writer by: David Zelag Goodman, Rod Lurie,
Sam Peckinpah, Gordon Williams
Music by: Larry Groupé
Cinematography: Alik Sakharov
Editing by: Sarah Boyd
Studio: Screen Gems (Sony)
Distributed by: Screen Gems
Release date: September 16, 2011
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Drama
Running time: 109 minutes
Country: United States
Language: English
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