This film is well made, beautifully shot, and superbly acted. But I feel the message is ultimately misguided. The film seems to side with the idea that you can, and should, force people out of their grief. It also seems to support very narrow ideas about what adulthood means.
Reviews
3 Reviews
Straw Dogs
(2011)
Very Dumbed Down
14 November 2019
I usually try not to overly compare a remake to the original, but being as it is almost beat-by-beat the same film, albeit with superficial changes, it's hard not to judge it against its predecessor.
The change of setting from rural, working class England to backwoods Mississippi was the one alteration that actually made sense. This is as it is an insular community which is probably more familiar to a contemporary American audience. Beyond that it was just the same film again (a remake in a more literal sense than the norm), except very dumbed down from the original.
Everything which in the original was told through subtext, including the patently obvious, was in this film turned into expositional dialogue. This even goes right down to having a character verbally explain the title of the movie itself.
In fairness, I must admit I watched this remake in very close succession to having last watched the original, so the contrast is likely more glaring to me than it otherwise may have been. But it was nevertheless very disappointing, especially considering the excellent cast who were wasted here.
The change of setting from rural, working class England to backwoods Mississippi was the one alteration that actually made sense. This is as it is an insular community which is probably more familiar to a contemporary American audience. Beyond that it was just the same film again (a remake in a more literal sense than the norm), except very dumbed down from the original.
Everything which in the original was told through subtext, including the patently obvious, was in this film turned into expositional dialogue. This even goes right down to having a character verbally explain the title of the movie itself.
In fairness, I must admit I watched this remake in very close succession to having last watched the original, so the contrast is likely more glaring to me than it otherwise may have been. But it was nevertheless very disappointing, especially considering the excellent cast who were wasted here.
Best of the season, with a brilliant performance by Peter Capaldi!
30 November 2015
There is still, as of the time of writing this, an episode to go (and the Xmas special), but what a season this has been! There's been some really standout episodes in the past runs, but no season has come close to this as a whole.
Honestly, the only episode this year which was a bit of a misfire was Mark Gatiss' "Sleep No More", and it wasn't even bad. It was a perfectly standard episode of Doctor Who which just didn't match the same level of excellence of the other installments around it.
Seriously, just between "Heaven Sent", which is undoubtedly the Twelfth Doctor's best thus far, and his speech in "The Zygon Inversion", Peter Capaldi had better receive a BAFTA award for this series!
This episode was just brilliant. It was dark, atmospheric, introspective, and clever. And it's almost better upon repeat viewing, picking up all those extra little nuances.
Honestly, the only episode this year which was a bit of a misfire was Mark Gatiss' "Sleep No More", and it wasn't even bad. It was a perfectly standard episode of Doctor Who which just didn't match the same level of excellence of the other installments around it.
Seriously, just between "Heaven Sent", which is undoubtedly the Twelfth Doctor's best thus far, and his speech in "The Zygon Inversion", Peter Capaldi had better receive a BAFTA award for this series!
This episode was just brilliant. It was dark, atmospheric, introspective, and clever. And it's almost better upon repeat viewing, picking up all those extra little nuances.
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