Straw Dogs, starring James Marsden and Kate Bosworth

Into the pantheon of unnecessary remakes enters Rod Lurie's Straw Dogs, a lead footed, heavy handed insult to Sam Peckinpah's 1971 original. Despite the film receiving a mixed response, I consider Straw Dogs to be one of Peckinpah's finest, mainly because it's his most blatantly controversial. But it was controversial only because it made people think and examine their own views on masculinity and how it relates to violence in all it's various forms. Lurie's version wants to just as provocative, but lacks the guts to go all the way. And so it ends up just another mediocre flick about aggressive hayseeds picking on the clean cut out-of-towners. Ho hum.

James Marsden has the unenviable task of taking on the role originated by Dustin Hoffman, only this time his David Sumner is the epitome of every negative thing ever said about Hollywood folk. A goofy, limp wristed, pacifist screenwriter who wouldn't know "real work" if it bit him in the ass. His idea of getting his hands dirty would likely involve having to fill the coffee maker himself. He arrives into the southern town of Blackwater with his wife, Amy(Kate Bosworth), a hometown girl and local celebrity for leaving and appearing on a cancelled TV series. Blackwater's one of those towns where the only things that matter are God, football, and maintaining an air of civility and chivalry. It's all bullcrap, of course.

Almost immediately they meet up with Amy's old high school sweetheart, Charlie(Alexander Skarsgard), and it's clear there are still a few sparks under the hood. He calls her "Amy Cakes" right in David's face, almost as an immediate manhood check. David responds by hiring Charlie and his pack of yokels to do contracting work on their roof, which is like inviting the fox to mind the chickens. David struggles to fit in a place he simply doesn't belong. He drinks beer like a pansy, shows off his pretentious sports car, and grows bored at church sermons.  The only thing he could've done to piss the town off more would be to wipe his butt with the Confederate flag. I'm surprised Lurie didn't put that in there somewhere.

It's pretty obvious what's going to happen early on, as Charlie and his gang can barely contain their desire for Amy whenever she's near. Charlie especially is like a wild dog in her presence, salivating as she jogs in her sweaty tank top and too thin shorts. Soon the attention she's getting is too up front, and David is the subject of hellish torment and ridicule. The tensions rise, but mostly between Amy and David. She wants her husband to be a man and stand up to their tormentors, something which simply isn't in his nature. At the same time, there's a hint that maybe...possibly....she's not all that upset about what's going on.

The duality inherent in each and everyone one of us, the ability for a man of peace to become a vengeful animal and vice versa, is central to Peckinpah's film. Lurie has no interest in any of that. He's mostly concerned with painting the most black and white picture of liberal vs. conservative values possible. There's not a touch of nuance anywhere to be found. This is Straw Dogs for someone too lazy to go rent the real Straw Dogs. It's a Straw Dogs-like substance, effective only in making you hate everybody involved. That includes James Marsden, an actor I generally like but he comes off too much like a clown to be taken seriously. It's like he just wandered off the set of Death at a Funeral and forgot to change characters. Kate Bosworth is actually very effective as the big fish in a small pond, the hottest girl in a town where competition is pretty soft.

The most contentious scene of Peckinpah's film involves a very lengthy, very graphic rape scene in which Amy appears to give in to her attackers. That bit is represented here as well, although lacking any teeth whatsoever. While some would disagree, I think Peckinpah left a lot up in the air as to Amy's true feelings during the assault. Lurie, however, doesn't have the ability to walk that line. That inability to show any shades of gray in his characters renders the entire film pointless.