STRAW DOGS Review
Rod Lurie's Straw Dogs burrows under your skin like a mean junkyard dog burying a bone. It's the first remake in recent memory that doesn't feel like a naked cash grab. Lurie had something he wanted to say and manhandled a new version of Sam Peckinpah's scabrous original until it lined up with his sights. In the process, he created a beast that feeds upon the corpses of its inspiration and then stands alone.
That's not to say that the new film is necessarily better, but it's definitely different, and worthy of serious consideration as its own entity.
Truth to tell, I've only seen the 1971 original once, and it left a sour taste in my mouth, one that I've never been in a hurry to repeat. As I recall -- and memory can be a bitch, so I won't swear to it -- Dustin Hoffman dominated the proceedings, or at least it's my impression of Hoffman that lingers, as a scared, weaselly coward who finally stands up to evil to protect his property, which includes his wife and a fine English country estate. The film is an essential part of the Peckinpah filmography, though it's less accomplished and powerful than The Wild Bunch and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, and certainly has little of the homespun poetry to be found in Ride the High Country, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, or Junior Bonner.
Getting back to Lurie's film, which he wrote and directed, the setting has been moved to the rural Gulf Coast. Amy Sumner (Kate Bosworth) is coming home. She fled to Hollywood soon after high school, became a TV star, and met and married David (James Marsden), a staff writer on her show who has moved on to feature films. He's working on a new script about Stanlingrad in 1943, she's between jobs, and, post-Katrina, some money has arrived to help them fix up the isolated house in which she grew up.
David hires Charlie (Alexander Skarsgård) to repair the the roof on the garage, not realizing until it's too late that the former high school football star turned building contractor was once Amy's sweetheart. Charlie and his crew (Rhys Coiro, Drew Powell, Billy Lush) get to work the next day, Amy dares to jog wearing short shorts and a tank top without a bra, and the trouble begins.
In establishing a hothouse atmosphere filled with noxious fumes, Lurie leans heavily on Southern stereotypes. Not only do we have the uncultured boorishness of Charlie's crew, who, as Amy complains to David, are salivating over her, ready to lick her like a dog, the small town has, apparently, only one bar and grill, where all the men hang out, dirty and sweating, shooting pool, drinking manly beer (Budweiser only), and eating fried food.
It's where the former high school football coach, still known only as Coach (James Woods), holds court in intimidating fashion, his wiry frame and white hair not disguising the fury that simmers within. Coach is apt to boil over whenever his 15-year-old daughter Janice (Willa Holland) is mentioned in the same breath as Jeremy Niles (Dominic Purcell), a mentally-challenged man who has a history of "playing" with underage girls. His brother Daniel (Walton Goggins) tries to protect him, but is conveniently out of the way whenever the plot needs a flash point.
With so many nasty-looking men circling around Amy and David, the air is constantly charged, prone to violent outbursts at any moment. The stomach-clenching tension starts early, builds slowly, and rarely lapses.
Within that brewing storm, the personalities of Amy and David are drawn. They're a sexy, relaxed couple, and appear to be well-matched, their temperaments compatible, if not always perfectly in tune. As the stress level increases, though, they react in accordance with their personalities, which highlights their differences. It's easy enough to call Straw Dogs a simple thriller and leave it at that, but the heart of the piece is the study of two characters who are joined at the hip yet leaning in opposite directions.
Lurie takes some false steps. Even without knowing the trajectory of the original film -- to make a full disclosure, I haven't read Gordon Williams' novel "The Siege of Trencher's Farm," which served as source material for both versions, either -- some elements are telegraphed unnecessarily early, while others are set up too neatly, and the motivation for certain actions are questionable, as far as believability is concerned.
That doesn't take too much from what Rod Lurie has achieved, however. His Straw Dogs doesn't replace Peckinpah's version, but it belongs on the shelf below as a nervy, visceral alternative edition. And it could provoke spirited discussions about men, women, power, peace, violence, and remakes.
Straw Dogs opens wide across the U.S. today. Check local listings for theaters and showtimes.
Photo credits: Photo above: Photo by Alik Sakharov - © 2011 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Both photos: By Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment - © 2011 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved. **ALL IMAGES ARE PROPERTY OF SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT INC. FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY.
