Film Review: Straw Dogs

Forty years after the original, Rod Lurie’s remake of Straw Dogs is a competent thriller. The film should satisfy most audiences sufficiently, although fans of the original may not be as impressed.

LA screenwriter David Sumner and his actress wife Amy move to her home town in the deep South so he can concentrate on writing his next movie. Hiring some of Amy’s old friends to renovate the house, David immediately sticks out as an outsider in the closed community. As tension grows between David and his employees, his relationship with Amy is also impacted…

Straw Dogs stands up rather well as an independent film. Compared to Sam Peckinpah’s original, it is unsurprisingly inferior. Nonetheless, there are some positive aspects of the remake. For one, the decision to set the film in small town Mississippi is a sound choice. The setting has the same tropes as the small English town of the 1971 film: a closed community, suspicious of outsiders, who look after their own. The setting may make the film more relatable to global audiences, and certainly to American ones.

Some of the changes made to the characters and their role in proceedings are completely plausible, while others work less successfully. Amy in Lurie’s film is more of an equal to her husband. This is understandable given the social shifts of the last forty years. Nevertheless, it is rather problematic with regards to the incidents that occur. While Amy wishes her husband to stand up for himself and for her, she seems willing to jump into the fray. Yet after her traumatic attack, it seems less likely that she would stay completely silent on the matter. The sheriff, meanwhile, does not hold the same weight as his counterpart in the 1971 film.

The most interesting and polarising aspect of Peckinpah’s film was the rape scene. Thankfully, Lurie chooses not to reproduce this sequence faithfully. Instead, the scene shifts the focus away from the female and on to her male attacker. This is an incredibly astute move by Lurie. The scene retains the same distress and ambiguity as the original, but not necessarily for exactly the same reason. The film is well executed, providing suitably uncomfortable viewing.

The casting of the two main male characters is excellent. James Marsden as David and Alexander Skarsgård as Charlie successfully juxtaposes these two characters. Their manner and appearance is a stark contrast; a polemic which is explored in the later part of the film. Skarsgård in particular is very convincing, while Kate Bosworth does an adequate job as Amy.

Lurie’s film reproduces some of its predecessor line for line. Other elements are altered for the worse. Thankfully the most significant change in Straw Dogs provides a talking point which is different, but no less controversial.

The Empire Big Screen Diaries – Day 2

After staying up last night writing my diary entry, I decided to do it throughout the day. We await with baited breath what film distributors Entertainment One have to show us. Clips of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 are rumoured to be screened. Having not seen any of the previous films, this means nothing to be, but I hear the series is pretty popular. Empire editor Chris Hewitt is currently introducing the day on stage. Paul W.S. Anderson is up first introducing The Three Musketeers. The clip was in 3D which was quite exciting, but I think I would prefer a feature-length version of the Dogtanian and the Three Muskerhounds cartoon.

MyAnna Buring has just introduced The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 trailer. We are awaiting clips. MyAnna was a massive fan of the series apparently. No clips have been screened after all. [Edit] Twilight footage has been found! First clip is of Edward and Bella on their honeymoon. I think there is some unintentional humour. Edward calls Bella “Mrs Cullen”. Second clip was of the werewolves have a facing off. Now Ghost Rider 2 trailer, which has a very amusing ending.

Warner Bros Showcase up next with Sherlock Homes: A Game of Shadows. Waiting for Guy Ritchie to get his mike fixed. Guy Ritchie just introduced a short featurette on the sequel. The director is talking about how eager he was to make a follow-up to Sherlock Holmes. Jared Harris is fantastic as Moriarty, apparently. An extended clip of Contagion was screened next, along with the trailer for Happy Feet 2. Peter Jackson introduces a video blog from the set of The Hobbit. Cast and crew seem to be having a lot of fun on set. The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer follows. Nothing new hear, but it is good to see it on the big screen. The Final Destination 5 opening sequence is so much fun, cannot wait to see it!

At this point, I received a verbal bitch-slapping from security for having my laptop out. After several minutes of indecision (and despite the best efforts of the lovely publicists), we had to put our laptops away, hence the delay in updating this post. With all the kerfuffle, I missed the beginning of the Optimum Showcase. Kill List was discussed, after which clips of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark was screened. It is difficult to ascertain too much, but the film seems incredibly atmospheric.

The Sony Pictures Showcase was next, with a plethora of trailers and clips. First up was Arthur Christmas, with screenwriter Peter Baynham appearing to discuss the film. The film features a stellar cast of mostly British actors voicing the characters. Peter Lord, director of The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists was next on stage to talk about making the animated film. The trailer was screened, as well as brief clips of the main characters.

Sony’s packed showcase continued with a series of trailers, beginning with Friends with Benefits introduced with a video message from Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis. The trailer of the Straw Dogs remake was screened next, as well as Moneyball and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Next up was a clip from 30 Minutes or Less, introduced with a video message from Jesse Eisenberg and Aziz Ansari. Following this Len Wiseman introduced (again via video) some footage of Total Recall, due for release in 2012. The clip was pretty interesting; the fact that it was unfinished suggests how ‘in production’ the film is.

Roland Emmerich took to the stage to talk about his upcoming film Anonymous. Following this brief discussion, a lengthy clip of the film was screened. With phones confiscated and without a watch, I am not really sure how long this clip was. It felt at one point as if we were watching the entire movie, but not from the very beginning. The film is rather a daring take on a much-loved British icon (Shakespeare) so it will be interesting to see how it will be received. Finally, footage from The Amazing Spider-Man was screened, after a video introduction from Marc Webb, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. The first clip focused on Peter Parker, while the second featured his nemesis in the new film, The Lizard. The footage certainly worked well to wet the appetite for next year’s release.

The shortest break only allowed me to snack on prawn cocktail crisps in the press room; every restaurant and cafe in the O2 seemed full to the rafters. Dashing back to the Indigo2, the Icon Showcase was brief and to the point, focusing solely on Drive. Nicholas Winding Refn was interviewed on stage about the film. The project was initially introduced to the director by star Ryan Gosling. A clip of the film was screened – it looks amazing. This is one I am really looking forward to.

After the showcases were done for the day, we queued for the Memories of Raiders event. There were many fans trying to get in for this, but my silver-tongued friend managed to gain us entry when the event looked full. Robert Watts, one of the producers of Raiders of the Lost Ark, delighted audience members with his tales of working with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. What was great about Robert’s discussion was that he was modest as well as entertaining. Despite having worked on some of the biggest films of the late 1970s and 1980s, he remained down to earth when talking about the films.

We languished in the corridor outside after the talk, trying to ascertain the possibility of getting into the secret screening. Alas, it was not to be, and a group of us ended up going to The Change-Up screening instead. The film was watchable but not overly exciting (review to follow).

After a long long day, we decided to go for a quick drink. On our way to one of the bars in the O2, we noticed that everyone seemed to be dressed in white. Rather than a hoodless Klan meeting, it was for some dance event being held there. Unperturbed, we had a drink before deciding that our bodies required some much needed nourishment. Armadillo was our next port of call, where we had chicken skewers and bacon and cheese toasted sandwiches. I also got a chocolate milkshake served in a pint bottle, but for the first time in my life I couldn’t finish a milkshake. This lead me to reevaluate my life for a quick minute. Thus, the day was ended.