Straw Dogs Directed by: Rod Lurie Starring: James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: September 16, 2011

TRAILER SCORE: 4/10

Thoughts by TSR: I’m not one to automatically hate all remakes, but even I have to question this remake of Straw Dogs. Not because I hold Peckinpah’s original starring Dustin Hoffman in high regard, but because this trailer sells a film so generic I don’t see the sense in bothering with it.

Advertising often gives away too much of a film’s plot and unfortunately this appears to be no exception. It’s structured so that we see many of the events that take place throughout. The attack on the house is right at the start. Next we have a pleasant flashback of the couple arriving in the Southern town. Towards the end we see Marsden breaking out of his passive shell and going on the offensive. Sure, there are key bits left out, but the trailer shows a whole lot and I never like to see that.

As for the cast, Marsden looks solid as the coward turned fighter. Bosworth has never really impressed me, but from the looks of it she has little to do other than be scared and go jogging in short shorts, so I’m sure she’ll manage. Then there’s Alexander Skarsgård, who probably impressed me the most, playing the leader of the merry band of hillbilly attackers. The redneck angle is actually one of the main issues I have with this trailer, and by extension the film: We’ve seen this sort of thing a hundred times. There just doesn’t seem to be anything fresh and new.

Of course, this could simply be a case of a trailer attempting to appeal to a demographic I don’t happen to be part of. My fingers are crossed that the next one will go deeper and prove Lurie has more ambitious plans, but for now I have little hope of this film being anything more than another dime a dozen thriller.