Rent Straw Dogs (2011)
2.8 of 5 from 81 ratings
1h 45min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- A 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), 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.
- Actors:
- James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård, James Woods, Dominic Purcell, Rhys Coiro, Billy Lush, Laz Alonso, Willa Holland, Walton Goggins, Anson Mount, Drew Powell, Kristen Shaw, Megan Adelle, Jessica Dockrey, Randall Newsome, Tim J. Smith, Richard Folmer, Wanetah Walmsley, Clyde Heun
- Directors:
- Rod Lurie
- Writers:
- Rod Lurie, David Zelag Goodman
- Studio:
- Sony
- Genres:
- Thrillers
- Collections:
- What We Were Watching in 1971
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 12/03/2012
- Run Time:
- 110 minutes
- Languages:
- Catalan Dolby Digital 5.1, English Audio Description Dolby Digital 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- Danish, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, Hindi, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.40:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Courting Controversy: Remaking A Classic
- The Dynamics Of Power: Cast
- Inside The Siege: Stunts
- Creating The Sumner House: Production Design
- Commentary with Writer/Director Rod Lurie
- BD Live Enabled
More like Straw Dogs
Reviews of Straw Dogs
Critic review
Straw Dogs review by Melissa Orcine - Cinema Paradiso
A 2011 version of director Sam Peckinpah’s 1971 film starring Dustin Hoffman, ‘Straw Dogs’ makes a go at the controversial and polarizing feature, now with a much younger cast in James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, and Alexander Skarsgard. This time it’s directed by Rod Lurie.
David (James Marsden) and Amy (Kate Bosworth) Sumner are a married couple who return to Amy’s hometown of Blackwater, Mississippi, to rebuild her recently deceased father’s old house while David also finishes a screenplay on the siege of Stalingrad. David is an Ivy Leaguer, a total outsider in the simpleton ways of his wife’s townies. Without a lick of knowledge on woodworking or dirtying of his hands, he hires Charlie (Alexander Skarsgard), Amy’s former high-school boyfriend, and his cohorts to rebuild the rundown home.
At first, work at the home goes along well, but then Charlie and his buddies begin to be a nuisance. They play loud music, make David and Amy’s home as if their own by going in and out as they please, and lust after Amy. This leads to David letting go of Charlie and friends, but what he doesn’t know is that they’re not about to leave just yet.
Next thing David and Amy know, they become victims of a frightening home invasion, mental torture, and violence that would make you squirm. In the 1971 original, ‘Straw Dogs’ was hard to watch because the brutality inflicted on David and especially on Amy were just inexplicable.
It was a study on how violence begets violence, a never-ending cycle that only leads to a horrific end. But in the updated version of ‘Straw Dogs’, it becomes a revenge story; of liberal versus Southern attitudes and the gulf between them. The violence is still daunting and excessive, but in director Rod Lurie’s adaptation, a lot of the issues have been watered down.
‘Straw Dogs’ would have been a winning remake if the production decided to steer clear of the original together. If you’re to remake anything, at least make it better, if not different.