Straw Dogs (2011)

Title: Straw Dogs

Release Date: September 16, 2011

Director: Rod Lurie

Writer: Rod Lurie (based on novel by Gordon Williams)

Starring: James Marsden, Alexander Skarsgard

Genre: Thriller

Let's begin with that this in fact is a "remake" of the 1971 movie of the same title. I haven't seen the original so thats pretty much the extent of comparing I'll do between the two. All I know is that it's pretty much the same circumstances, just a different setting and time.

Okay, well, filming wise, this movie was surprisingly sharp. They definitely made some of the most vulgar/off-putting scenes, into well put together,semi enjoyable scenes. Also, it had this greenish tint to it that really made it very down-and-dirty southern type thing (set in marshlands of Mississippi).

The acting was kind of great.  Alexander Skarsgard did a amazing job playing the charming, southern guy; and Kate Bosworth and James Marsden had an obvious relaxed chemistry that made their on screen relationship believable. The script was dark and very real, I had no trouble imagining many of the conversations in real life.

One thing I didn't enjoy about this movie was the actual progression of the plot. It started steady and had a good sort of suspicious air about it, but I honestly felt there was no real climax. While I know where in the movie the climax is (or was supposed to be), I felt it fell flat. It was like winding up a jack in the box and then instead of letting it 'pop!' out super quick, it was like the top slowly opened and you could see the whole story unfold very slowly and predictably. The other thing is at times I got the feeling they were trying to relate this too much to the original. I haven't seen the 1971 'Straw Dogs', so I might be wrong, but it was just a feeling.

I think what really saved this movie, at least for me, was the realness of every scene. The characters and the scenes were raw, and to be completely honest, I think that's a hard thing to find in many of the big budget motion pictures. What killed it was that it wasn't as 'memorable' per say as I would've hoped.

I give this a 6.5 out of 10 stars.