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Kevin Michael Vance
Writer - Portland, Oregon
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Title: STRAW DOGS
Director: Rod Lurie
Year: 2011
Reviewed: January 11, 2012
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Birthday Cake-Second Highest Rating |
[Rating Definitions]
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Yet again, here we have another re-make, the movie STRAW DOGS. The original starred, a very young, Dustin Hoffman and was set in a rural village in England, and or, Wales. The re-make stars James Marsden and is set in a rural village in the south.
Recently, I watched the original, and as is often the case, I preferred it to the re-make; which is not say you cannot make a re-make good, or even, better than the original. For my part, I prefer the re-makes of, most recently, Fright Night, and Dawn of the Dead, to the originals. However, in the case of STRAW DOGS, the original, as well as Hoffmans performance in said film; is quite simply better. Where the original fleshes each character out, the re-make does not. The childish wife character, which gets both husbands in each film into major trouble, is just a little bit more understandable in the original. But what really disturbs and bewilders me is a filmmakers decision to copy a movie, shot for shot, scene for scene, and line for line. The above mentioned re-makes that I confessed to liking are not copies. Instead, they expanded and built upon the general themes of the original movies. Re-makes like Straw Dogs, and also Let Me In, are poor facsimiles of the original films. Maybe I am missing something, because I just do not get it. I do not understand why a director would choose to copy a film. It simply makes no sense to me. The actors in the re-make do fine jobs; namely Marsden and especially, Alexander Skarsgard; who is such a looming giant of quiet power and repressed angst, he is terrifying in every scene. But again, nearly shot for shot, it is the exact same movie. And that is why, finally, I will give the re-make of STRAW DOGS, a BIRTHDAY CAKE review.
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