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Directed
by Rod Lurie
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A young couple moves to a small town called Blackwater, Mississippi. It's actually "Amy Sumner's" (Kate Bosworth) home town and her husband "David Sumner" (James Marsden) has to get use to the small town ways and attitude. The couple hires Amy's old boyfriend "Charlie" (Alexander Skarsgård) & his friends to replace the damaged roof of their barn. But soon "Charlie" making advances towards "Amy" which progresses to something quite scary & violent. James Marsden was an excellent choice to pay "David Sumner," the educated screenwriter whose manhood is put to the test big-time. He's believable as a man who thinks with his head first. Kate Bosworth comes across as cute little southern belle, but she can be tough when she has to be. She projects just enough sass to make it seem as tough she grew up in the small town and has become conditioned by their way of living. Alexander Skarsgård is a definite onscreen contrast when pitted up against James Marsden. Being at least a foot taller with a physical advantage, he is cast on the money for the role of "Charlie." More importantly he starts with charisma and charm, which makes it understandable how Sumner's would hire him to do the work but your attitude will change about him as the film plays on. James Woods makes a dent as "Tom Heddon" the foul-mouthed, hot-tempered old football coach, Heddon is out to get the town's mentally handicapped young man Jeremy Niles (Domenic Purcell) because he thinks he's after his daughter "Janice Heddon" (Willa Holland) when it's actually the other way around.. It was great seeing Rhys Coiro from HBO's Entourage and I did like the way the rest of the movie was cast. Writer/Director Rod Lurie was coming off the dramatically potent NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. Lurie doesn't disappoint as his characters are fleshed out with layers of detail to make them well rounded and interesting. Lurie's direction is very precise and though the film looks great, he doesn't let the visuals overtake his actors or the story. He certainly engineers suspense with brooding human interaction that hits just as hard as the onscreen action. Sony has some wonderful extras on this Blu-ray. Courting Controversy: Remaking a Classic talks about how Rod Lurie gained the trust of his actors to be able to put them in vulnerable positions yet still protect them. We learn that the "rape scene" was the most talked about scene in the movie as well as it should be. The Dynamics of Power: The Ensemble gives each actor a chance to talk about how Rod Lurie created complex characters they each loved and how they bonded together to create back-story to make the movie feel that much more real. Inside the Siege: The Ultimate Showdown goes into detail how the production team planned to pull off the climatic ending and all the components it took to make it happen. Fascinating stuff. Creating the Sumner House: Production Design how the house was built on an area surround on three sides by water and that it was designed with the thought that it belonged to officers from the Civil War. Commentary with Writer/Director Rod Lurie is informative. He doesn't mince his words about his film vs. Peckinpah's and says that it was Dustin Hoffman who convinced him to take on this film by telling him the story was really a western. Lurie points out how his film is different and says he definitely doesn't share Peckinpah's political view of the characters in the first film. This version of STRAW DOGS is richly character based but still packs a wallop of a punch.
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