Straw Dogs (2011)

L.A. screenwriter David Sumner relocates with his wife to her hometown in the deep South. There, while tensions build between them, a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them both.

Director:

Rod Lurie

Writers:

Rod Lurie (screenplay), David Zelag Goodman (earlier screenplay),

Stars:

James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Marsden	...	David Sumner
Kate Bosworth	...	Amy Sumner
Alexander Skarsgård	...	Charlie
James Woods	...	Tom Heddon
Dominic Purcell	...	Jeremy Niles
Rhys Coiro	...	Norman
Billy Lush	...	Chris
Laz Alonso	...	John Burke
Willa Holland	...	Janice Heddon
Walton Goggins	...	Daniel Niles
Anson Mount	...	Coach Milkens
Drew Powell	...	Bic
Kristen Shaw	...	Abby
Megan Adelle	...	Melissa
Jessica Dockrey	...	Helen (as Jessica Cook)

Storyline

Screenwriter David Sumner travels with his wife Amy in his Jaguar to her homeland Blackwater, in the Mississippi. Amy's father has passed away and David intends to write his screenplay about Stalingrad in the house. David hires the contractor Charlie and his team to repair the roof of the Barn. Amy was the sweetheart of Charlie when she lived there and neither him nor his crew show respect to her. Charlie invites David to hunt deers with his group and him but they leave David alone in the woods and rape Amy. She does not tell to David what happened but when the drunken coach Tom Heddon calls Charlie and his friends to hunt down the slow Jeremy Niles that likes his daughter, David decides to protect not only Jeremy, but also Amy and his honor.

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Plot Keywords:

screenwriter | rape | barn | deer | mississippi | 

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Taglines:

Don't let them in.

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Genres:

Thriller

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 2011 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Les chiens de paille

Filming Locations:

Bossier City, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$5,123,760 (USA) (16 September 2011)

Gross:

$10,324,441 (USA) (7 October 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Gems, Battleplan Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The book that David has next to him on the kitchen table when he is working early in the movie is 'Stalingrad' by Anthony Beevor.

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Goofs

In one scene, Amy erases the "3" in the date on David's chalkboard and replaces it with a "4". In a later scene with Charlie, you can see that the "4" that Amy wrote earlier is now written in a different style.

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Quotes

Charlie: [first lines... as Norm takes butchering saw to still live deer] Norm. What are you doing, man? Geez.

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Connections

Referenced in Estrenos Críticos: Crepúsculo: Vampiros de Paja (2011)

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Soundtracks

Flirtin' With Disaster
Written by David Hlubeck, Danny Joe Brown, and Sanner Thomas
Performed by Molly Hatchet

User Reviews

bad bad bad

An embarrassing attempted 'remake' of a great piece of film making, by a cast and crew who evidently have no idea what the original was all about.

Peckinpah's original raised questions - you left the theater feeling awkward, self-conscious, asking the same question the lead character was asking himself - 'how do I find my way home now?' This pseudo-remake leaves you wondering, "Is it over yet? Why did I waste money on this? Won't this be show up on DVD soon?"

Because that's all it is, a poorly made routine B movie - part domestic melodrama, part crime shocker, aimed at the DVD market.

Wholly forgettable, with blasé cinematography, second rate photography

• utterly forgetful.

See the original - a strange, uncomfortable and difficult but insightful film that holds its own after 4 decades.