Screen Gems, Battleplan Productions
James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard, James Woods, Domenic Purcell, Laz Alonso, Willa Holland, Walton Goggins, Rhys Coiro
Hollywood Screenwriter David Sumner (James Marsden) and his wife Amy (Kate Bosworth) move to Mississippi to Amy’s hometown. But the locals there do not appreciate the hotshot LA folks moving into their town, and especially how Amy has changed. Troubles brew as her ex boyfriend tries to move in, and they take every opportunity to make fun of and play games with David to make him look foolish. He hires some local guys to do work on the house, but they mostly play around, drink beer, and make rude remarks to Amy. Every time they try to fit in a little, things get worse. Things escalate until eventually it all comes to a violent head.
This is a remake of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah film with Susan George and Dustin Hoffman. This is a remake that probably shouldn’t have been made, in my opinion. It pales to the original which was definitely shocking. The original is set in rural England, and David is a mathematician, so right away he’s really a nerd, not a decently cool screenwriter. The point of the movie (both versions) is that Amy is getting kind of fed up with the fact that her husband is kinda wimpy. She’s looking for a tough, bad boy, guy who will stand up and fight and be her knight in shining armor. In both movies, David would rather talk his way out of tough situations and use diplomacy and civility rather than violence. When he’s pushed to the limit though, and there is no way out, he turns into a vicious beast! Dustin Hoffman did this so much better.
Basically, they took the primary elements of the story and set it in Mississippi in 2011 without updating any of the rural England of 40-50 years ago elements (except for some computers and cell phones and new cars). The story is still fairly exciting, and if you had never seen the original, wouldn’t be too bad to watch, but do yourself a favor, now that it’s on DVD, and get the original 1971 version and be in “shock and awe” of Sam Peckinpah’s vision of a man defending his home from a bunch of hoodlums. Don’t bother with this weak revision fiasco.
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