Straw Dogs (2011)

Too much of everything

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

I am not sure why this film has an average below 9 and do not understand people who gave this film one or two stars...The film is entertaining and keeps your attention from the beginning to the end - and what an end! I loved the atmosphere of the film, which is kinda uncomfortable and eerie in a way... Don't know why but that was the main plus for this film, alonside really great roles of 2 leading men and the girl too ( who, I must say, looks so much like Jessica Simpson - that I though it was her in the 1st scene in the car).I read that this is a remake. I did not watch the original nor I read the book, but this one was really great for me, so I do not have a wish to spoil it with something else.I give it rating 9, though, precisely it would be 8.6.Do watch the film and do not pay too much attention to negative reviews in a way to keep you off. See for yourself, I am sure you will enjoy it.

Unlike many, I found this movie to be very entertaining. James Marsden (David) and Alexander Skarsgård (Charlie) particularly excel in their roles.The film's basic plot revolves around a married couple, David and Amy (Kate Bosworth) moving back to her childhood home and community,and hiring her ex-boyfriend Charlie, and his friends, to fix the roof of their barn. But of course, trouble ensues.There are many different "dark" themes present explored throughout, from the stiff Southern American culture, one's place in nature, violence,desire.Masculinity is a another theme present. This film's dark moments have been known to give many people the chills.Having the story set in Mississippi, Southern America instead of England I think was a better move and made it more interesting.You could go and watch the more highly acclaimed Straw Dogs 1971 movie if you wish, but I think this modern remake is perfectly fine on its own.

Have you seen it? No? There is likely a very good reason for that...it stinks.Like nearly ALL the endless remakes and reboots that have been plaguing movie goers for the past decade or so....all this is, is a heartless version of the original.It has no heart.It has no soul.It is a retelling of a film that we all love and cherish...and it adds nothing to the story. It improves nothing but the special effects--which held up very well over time--and in some cases belittles the fans of the original...particularly in the fact that they remade the movie at all, without adding anything clever to it.Like so many other remakes it is a hallow shell of the original.

As only ever seeing parts of the original, with this remake, I'm pretty sure I'd still enjoy this versions better. Remakes tend to be livelier than originals. Here there's a forty year stretch. Marsden in one of his best roles (an actor who by now really deserves recognition) and his girlfriend (Kate Bosworth) really sexing it up here, move out to the country, where Bosworth was once a resident. Screenwriter, Marsden, has come out here to get some peace and quiet to work on his writing. When a group of townsfolk laborers, led by a jealous ex boyfriend of Bosworth's, come out to build a barnhouse, so begins an unnerving game to test one's patience, the main operative being Marsden, where these tradesmen show some uncanny behaviour and unnerving traits. If familiar with the premise of the original, we're treading the exact same waters, where we really get good performances out of the cast, notably Alexander Skarsgard, as the grudging ex, intent on seeing outsider, Marsden break, where they're main objective is to eventually drive em' out. But what's great about this Straw Dogs, as again I haven't seen most of the original, was a subplot in the third act, which leads to an ending on a path you don't expect it to go, involving an accidental murder, with now a much avenging townsfolk, where an almost intensely suffocating finale ensues. As for violence, it's sparse, only used with necessary, here one visual standout, a squirming, bone breaking moment, I guess to pun it up. I found the movie, most entertainingly rewarding, all through, something to talk about, with an ending I didn't expect, as I did a version of the song Breathless, unsung by Jerry Lee Lewis, here, coming across Marsden's radio. Willa Holland is delicious eye candy, looking appetizing, full cheerleader uniform and all, the apple of an older retarded guy's eye (Dominic Purcell) and she doesn't exactly mind too, where they have an open relationship. An aging James Woods as Holland's father, who really storms with anger when provoked, I didn't recognize at first. I guess we all get old.