Straw Dogs

WARNING: This review is hidden because it reveals the content of the film.
Click here to show this review. I was not the hugest fan of the Sam Peckinpah original but I decided to give this remake a chance. Although the acting is top notch (especially by Skaarsgard and Woods) I found myself surprisingly unmoved by pretty much everything. With the exception of one bravura moment which I wont spoil, even the climactic bloodbath is a bit of a letdown. The violence is rather tame by today's disturbing standards and there really isn't much of a point to any of it. Unlike Peckinpah's original which focused greatly on Hoffman's lack of courage and his continual desire to turn the other cheek, this remake abandons most of that in favor of holly contrived situations and strange character behavior. Never is the latter more obvious than with Bosworth's character, probably the most infuriatingly stupid and annoying character this side of Jar Jar Binks. Her behavior and actions (including stripping naked in a window in full view of perverts she supposedly reviles) cause everything yet she leers angrily at her husband, and calls him a coward. Honestly couldn't wait for someone, anyone to smack her. Bottom line, a totally forgettable exercise in lack of imagination and unpleasantness which spoils some fine acting.