Forty years after Sam Peckinpah's hugely controversial 1971 original, Rod Lurie adapted and directed a new version of Straw Dogs, with a very deliberate change of location and an updating of the social context. Instead of being set in Britain, the story now takes place in small-town Mississippi, where Hollywood screenwriter David Sumner (James Marsden) is moving with his wife Amy (Kate Bosworth). She grew up in Blackwater, which she aptly refers to as "backwater," but has since become a much-desired TV actress. In their isolated house, David will write while Amy's... ex-beau (Alexander Skarsgård) repairs the adjacent barn with his redneck buddies. In drawing the unease between this effete, conflict-averse intellectual and the swaggering, flag-waving, God-fearing locals, Lurie (The Contender) seems to be aiming at the hostility between red state/blue state America in 2011. But the movie breaks down when it gets to the sadistic plot turns that lead to the savage finale, a siege in which David is pushed to his primal self. In the Peckinpah film, this was a hellish and ambiguous exorcism, but here the events just seem ugly, and the movie loses control of its perspective about halfway through. James Marsden is a game actor, but he can't be as convincing a bookworm as Dustin Hoffman was in the original film. Kate Bosworth's ambivalence is the most interesting thing at play here, as she suggests the marriage might have been less than perfect all along. That subtle discontent is more intriguing than the movie's lurid collapse into ultraviolence. --Robert Horton [show more]
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This remake of Sam Peckinpah's classic 1971 psychological thriller transposes the events of the first film from Cornwall to the American Deep South. James Marsden stars as David Sumner, a Hollywood screenwriter who moves with his wife, Amy (Kate Bosworth), from LA to a house in his wife's small rural hometown to write his new script in peace and quiet. But tensions brew between the two amid the intense heat and isolation, and an escalating conflict with the locals eventually drives a naturally even-tempered David to violent and drastic measures.
Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play This item is a rental copy however it is Brand NewA young couple (James Marsden and Kate Bosworth) moves to a quaint southern town Soon their perfect getaway turns out to become a living hell when dark secrets and lethal passions spiral out of control Trapped by a pack of depraved locals led by a ruthless predator (Alexander Skarsgard TV&39;s "True Blood") they face a night of agonizing suffering and endless bloodshed Now their only hope for survival is to become more savage than their merciless torturers Also starring two-time Academy Award Nominee James Woods (Best Actor Salvador 1986 and Best Supporting Actor Ghosts of Mississippi 1996) Commentary with WriterDirector Rod LurieCourting Controversy Remaking a ClassicThe Dynamics of Power The EnsembleInside the Siege The Ultimate ShowdownCreating the Sumner House The Production DesignActors Kate Bosworth James Marsden Alexander Skarsgård James Woods Willa Holland Dominic Purcell Laz Alonso Anson Mount Walton Goggins Rhys Coiro Billy Lush Courtney Shay Young Kristen Shaw Drew Powell & Grant CaseDirector Rod LurieCertificate 18 years and overYear 2011Screen 2401Languages EnglishAdditional Languages Catalan ; Italian ; SpanishSubtitles English ; English for the hearing impaired ; Catalan ; Danish ; Finnish ; Hindi ; Italian ; Norwegian ; Spanish ; SwedishClosed Captions YesDuration 1 hour and 50 minutes (approx)
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