When it comes to laying down the lay with a vengeance, one man can make a difference.  The Rock takes no prisoners as he fights for justice and crushes competition in this fast paced ride inspired by the true story of a man who decided to take a stand – and take back his town.

CRITIQUE

In 1973, a film was made about the life of legendary Tennessee sheriff Buford Pusser.  Joe Don Baker played Pusser in that film, which turned into a surprise box office hit.  Rolling Stone magazine called Walking Tall the best film of the year, and it became a classic.  The film is brutally violent and tragic, with a powerful performance by Baker.  Of this remake, The Rock said that is was “an honor and a privilege to play the role of someone with that kind of integrity and heart.”  The filmmakers show how honored they are by changing the characters name, the location, and other details of the story.  Walking Tall is a cliché ridden, seen-it-before film that gives every example of why not to remake a movie.

With a running time of only an hour and fifteen minutes, they certainly do not waste time with anything as bothersome as plot or character development.  Instead they focus on what’s important: opening as many cans of whoop-ass as possible in as short a time as possible.  In this they succeed, but in the spaces in between, not that there are many, there is nothing in this film that clues us in to why we should care about these people.  The story of Buford Pusser has been turned into a cartoon.

After eight years in the military, Chris Vaughn (The Rock) returns to his small town in the Pacific Northwest with the idea that he will just relax for a while.  When he arrives, he finds that the town mill has closed down, a crooked casino has opened, and the kids are on drugs.  That’s the first ten minutes.  The Rock’s old high school buddy, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), who owns the casino, invites him for the night for free drinks and free lap dances.  All is going well until (uh-oh) The Rock finds that the craps table is being run with loaded dice.  Rather than lodge a formal complaint, The Rock takes charge of the situation by laying the smack down on the roodie-poo asses of every security guard in the building, until he is subdued by some of Hamilton’s cronies, who proceed to “beat him up,” and “leave him for dead.”  What should be one of the more harrowing moments in the film is mostly glossed over.  The character is supposed to be near death, but the scenes pass so quickly, and except for a few cuts and a shiner, The Rock is none the worse for wear.  After recovering, he comes back with a vengeance, with brutal efficiency he makes Hamilton’s cronies smell what The Rock is cookin’, dispatching them with ease.  From there the film devolves into one fight scene after another, as The Rock seeks to halt the drug trade in town, and shut down his old pal Hamilton.  The Rock teaches us a valuable lesson here: why get bogged down in the morass of “police work” when you can just pummel your way to a closed case?  Why engage in a battle of wits when you can just beat someone senseless?

Eventually The Rock starts to close in on Hamilton.  He arrests one of the men who “left him for dead” earlier in the film, and he says something about watching the prisoner through the night, but then The Rock’s old girlfriend shows up and he decides it would be better to have sex with her.  It is one of those sex scenes that serves absolutely no purpose and feels tacked on, but who cares.  The Rock deserves a little tenderness.  But there are only twenty minutes left in the film, so it must be going somewhere.

In a surprise twist, Hamilton’s men ambush The Rock at the jail, pumping countless bullets into the prefab building.  Though the bullets tear the place up, and even kill the prisoner, The Rock escapes and takes out the rest of the cronies.  Finally his friend-come-nemesis brings a little Hamilton 3:16 action, and the two go at it in a good old fashioned, stompin’-a-mudhole-in-your-candy-ass, drag out fight.  I would say more, but I don’t want to spoil the ending.

Loaded with a WWF sensibility, Walking Tall really tries, but it never rises above the action clichés from which it was conceived.  The performances are not bad, but they feel phoned in.  You have seen this all before, and will no doubt see it again.

THE VIDEO

Walking Tall is presented in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio.  The picture is sharp and all color levels are well presented.  The beauty of the Pacific Northwest is on full display in this movie, and the video presentation does it a good justice.

THE AUDIO

The audio options on this DVD are wide ranging.  The English track is in 5.1 Surround, and it sounds great.  The punching and shooting effects, the explosions, everything comes through sharply.  There is good dispersal throughout, and the overall presentation is fantastic.  There are also Spanish and French tracks in Stereo Surround.  Optional subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish, Mandarin, and Cantonese.

THE EXTRAS

Audio commentary by The Rock: “If you’re looking for an art house commentary,” says The Rock, “I suggest you slip in Gosford Park, if you have it, or a DVD like that.”  That’s not a bad idea, actually, but here The Rock talks about how the film came to be, working on the film, and why certain changes were made.  The Rock is loaded with charisma, and he lays the commentary smack down on your candy ass!

Audio commentary by director Kevin Bray, director of photography Glen MacPherson, and editor Robert Ivison: the three filmmakers talk about making the film and what their goals were, and they talk about how certain choices were made.

Fight the Good Fight: a featurette that examines the stunts and fight choreography in the film.

Deleted scenes: three very short scenes that were cut from the film.

Bloopers: a 45 second gag reel.  There is some funny stuff here, but it is over before we know it.

Alternate ending: The Porch: an alternate cut of the final scene in the film, The Rock and Johnny Knoxville joking with each other.

Photo gallery: behind-the-scenes photos from the set and publicity stills of The Rock.

Original theatrical trailer: the original trailer that was shown in theaters over and over and over and over.

The special features are the best thing about this disk.  Both commentary tracks are excellent, and the other features give us a more well rounded look at the film.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Walking Tall is a shining example of why great films should never be remade.  The movie is trite, loaded with every kind of action cliché, and short on everything a compelling movie.  The audio and visual presentations are well done, and the special features are excellent, but the movie is shallow and forgettable.  If you are interested in Walking Tall, do yourself a favor and check out the original.