When the “Straw Dogs” remake was first announced, there were a lot of mutterings about how unnecessary such a remake would be. The original “Straw Dogs,” after all, was a great film that explored ideas of masculinity, violence and nationality (for lack of a better word).
However, the “Straw Dogs” remake went ahead as planned and based on the trailer below, I don’t really have any complaints. To purists, the remake will never be as good as the original (that may be the case anyways), but based off the trailer, the new “Straw Dogs” is making a determined effort.
The story centers around married couple, David and Amy, who are returning to Amy’s hometown in the deep south. David is clearly out of his element and things only get worse when he hires Amy’s ex-boyfriend, Charlie, to fix their barn roof.
The trailer reminds me an awful lot of the trailer for “The Strangers,” where it’s basically giving quite a lot away and cushioning some of the shock when you see the actual film. Of course, one of the most disturbing parts is only hinted at. Overall, the film looks like it’s going to follow in the footsteps in the original. While the remake is outside of the time frame that made the original memorable, it is still focusing on the same themes and with the same intensity.
The only reservation I have is whether the actors can pull it off. I’m pretty sold on Alexander Skarsgård as Charlie after Skarsgård’s villainous role in “True Blood,” but James Marsden as David has me a little worried. I’ve only ever seen him in affable roles, so it will be interesting to see if he can pull off a darker character. As for Kate Bosworth, who plays Amy, I haven’t seen her in enough to form any real opinion of her acting qualities (though it now occurs to me that she and Marsden already played a married couple in “Superman Returns”).
“Straw Dogs” will open in theaters Sept. 16 and stars James Mardsen, Kate Bosworth, and Alexander Skarsgård.
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I think the film looks intense, lets hope they can keep a good pace and that all of the drama doesn’t happen in the last 20 minutes of the film. I am glad to see Marsden in a real role he can sink his teeth into after appearing in the fluffy role in this year’s “Hop” — which required no real acting.
No. Just… no.