[7]

[SPOILER REVIEW] Sue me, but I like both the Peckinpah original and this remake. Straw Dogs is a home invasion thriller that is either a tragedy about a pacifist man (James Marsden) who must turn violent to survive, or a celebration of the vicious animal in us all. I’m not sure which, but I enjoy the thematic exploration either way. Marsden, Kate Bosworth, and Alexander Skarsgard give solid performances and Rod Lurie’s direction is sure-handed (love the cross-cutting). I think what distinguishes the remake most of all is the pivotal rape scene. Its execution in the remake pushes me more toward the ‘tragic’ interpretation I mentioned earlier, while in the original it pushes me more toward ‘celebration.’ To this end, the original remains the more provocative (and politically incorrect) of the two.