Directed by: Rod Lurie
Starring: James Mardsen, Kate Bosworth, and Alexander Skarsgard
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)
Despite following the original Peckinpah film nearly beat for beat, Rod Lurie’s Straw Dogs is somehow a more lean, glossy Hollywood update that says a lot of different things. That it says anything at all is a relief, even if it’s at the service of a film that’s a little bit more of a crowd pleaser than it should be. This time, James Mardsen and Kate Bosworth are David and Amy Warner and have retreated to the latter’s hometown in Mississippi so David can write his latest movie script. They’re eventually tormented by some of the local guys, including Amy’s old flame from high school (Alexander Skarsgard). Lacking especially the subtlety and ambiguity of the original film, this is much less an exploration or treatise on the inevitability of violence; instead, this is a more simplistic tale of both a man and a woman pushed to their limits, with the eventual message being that a descent into violence is sometimes a necessary excursion rather than a permanent destination.
Mardsen and Bosworth are both fine, if not nondescript substitutes; this David is a bit less arrogant but no less meek than the original. Perhaps the biggest change is found in Bosworth’s Amy, who doesn’t brim with dangerous sexuality like Susan George, so the sexual politics are a bit muted. In particular, the reclamation of David’s masculinity doesn’t extend to reigning in his wife; the two are much more on equal ground, particularly during the climax. There’s also no ambiguity about the rape scene this time--there’s no sense that Amy is at all enjoying being assaulted, which further simplifies the proceedings. Two standouts from the cast emerge: Skarsgard, who is such a charming good old boy that you don’t want him to be a racist, and James Woods, the cantankerous former high school football coach who is a raging alcoholic.
Placing the film in the south is a fine and authentic re-appropriation, if only because its antiquated notions of manhood, forcefulness, and religious righteousness lend itself to the narrative. I think Lurie is ultimately condemning the destructiveness of this environment, which is something Peckinpah never did--he merely displayed it. In one of the more blatant examples of this take’s obviousness, it spells out the meaning of the title by referring to the Warners’ assailants as “straw dogs.” Once conquering town heroes on the gridiron, they’re discarded once they’ve served their purpose; the film slightly hints that these men have been conditioned or nurtured towards their violent behavior, which is at odds with the deterministic vibe of the original.
That stuff is a bit undercooked, so we’re eventually left with a remake that somewhat misses the point of the original, yet remains sort of entertaining. Early in the film, one of the guys asks David if he’s ever written a Saw movie, which he laughs off; the joke, of course, is that he’s eventually forced to live out such a film, what with all of the sensationalist, rousing violence he must use to defend his house. Whereas Peckinpah wanted us to be disturbed by the destruction of David’s principles as he lost his moral compass, Lurie wants us to be relieved at his fate. This one ends not with aimless driving down a dark road, but rather, with the reassuring sound of sirens in the distance, which will no doubt come to restore order.
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