| Walking Tall Starring: The Rock, Johnny Knoxville, Neal
McDonough, Ashley Scott
The Rock is definitely Walking
Tall in this straightforward remake of the popular 1973 revenge
flick based on the real-life exploits of Sheriff Buford Pusser.
Only the basic premise of the original film remains, but it's
well-suited to the Rock's rising-star agenda, and it's a savvy,
albeit uninspired follow-up to his previous hit,
The Rundown. With typical beefcake
bravado, Chris Vaughan (the Rock) arrives home in rural Kitsap
County, Washington (filmed in budget-friendly Canada, of course)
to find his hometown overtaken by childhood
friend-turned-sleazebag casino owner and drug-dealer Jay
Hamilton (played with steely-eyed malevolence by Neal
McDonough), whose squad of goons includes the local sheriff. The
cards are instantly and simplistically stacked against our hero,
but no matter: he's soon kickin' ass and takin' names as the new
sheriff, and from that point director Kevin Bray (All About the
Benjamins) goes strictly by-the-numbers, limiting this punchy
programmer to a brisk 85 minutes, with comic relief (courtesy of
costar Johnny Knoxville) and an obligatory love-interest (Ashley
Scott, in obligatory skimpy attire) tossed in for good measure.
It's a cracker movie for a cracker audience, and on those terms
it handily expedites the Rock's ascension to the action-movie
throne. --Jeff Shannon from Amazon.com
Release Date: September 28, 2004
Rating: PG-13
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