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WALKING
TALL
1/10
US
2004 : Kevin BRAY : 86 mins
With the USA
governed by arguably the most reactionary regime in its history, it's
perhaps not surprising - but nonetheless depressing - that Hollywood would
attempt to cash in by disinterring 1973's Walking Tall. Showcasing
what was one critic called "the terrifying voice of Nixon's silent
majority," the moneymaking original was very loosely inspired by
lawman Buford
Hayse Pusser, a six-foot-six ex-wrestler ('Buford
the Bull') who 'cleaned up' his Tennessee patch using a huge wooden
club. The Rock would seem like neat casting for this 'update' - not least
because the charismatic six-foot-four WWF hunk once grappled as 'The Brahma
Bull.'
But the four
credited scriptwriters* have produced a screenplay which bears only passing
resemblance to the 1973 film, and virtually none to the real-life Pusser:
all that's retained is the idea of the club-wielding Sheriff. The Rock
plays Chris Vaughn, an ex-soldier returning to his Washington-state hometown
after eight years away to find the lumber-mill shut down. Hundreds of
workers - including Chris's ageing dad (John Beasley) - have been thrown
onto the scrap-heap, with predictably disastrous consequences for the
community. The only person thriving seems to be Jay (Neal McDonough),
who operates a garish downtown casino. When Chris discovers the casino
is cheating its desperate punters, he's badly beaten by Jay's goons. But
you can't keep a good man down for long...
Walking
Tall is insultingly crude and naive on every level: economic, political,
social, legal, even racial - the visibly-Samoan Chris is somehow the son
of a white mother and an African-American father. This is a passing gripe,
however. It's grotesque to see very real problems (juvenile delinquency,
drug-taking, etc.) 'dealt with' in the format of such a thick-ear action
movie. And Walking Tall doesn't even deliver on that basic front:
the violence is irresponsibly cartoonish, tediously padding out an 86-minute
running-time that includes an indefensible 12 minutes of end-credits.
If this wasn't bad enough, the moneybags at MGM have the nerve to present
a story about an American town ruined by lack of work and money - every
frame of which was shot over the border in British Columbia, to cut costs.
28th June,
2004
(seen 3rd June : Vue, Leicester : press show - Cinema
Days event)
* David Klass,
Channing Gibson, David Levien, Brian Koppelman, their work based on Mort
Briskin's original screenplay.
For other
films rated 1/10 & 2/10 check out our Diorama
of Dishonour
by Neil
Young
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