Walking Tall

I have smelled what Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) has been cooking recently and in general I like what I see.

Welcome To The Jungle (aka The Rundown) was a gleefully silly and entertaining sack of action movie cliches, uplifted by it's three central performers and it's kid-in-a-candy-store direction from Peter Berg. The Scorpion King, another abysmally plotted entry in the Mummy series, was uplifted by Johnson's unwavering performance and effectively staged action.

His screen charisma is awesome and the screen loves that brawn and those bulging eyes. Having noted that Schwarzenneger has passed the baton, is Dwayne capable of more than the Governator? Very possibly, but Walking Tall isn't the film to showcase his talents.

Chris Vaughn (The Rock) is a Special Forces veteran, who has returned to his hometown, in a credit sequence that exposes the corruptive force which has transfigured much of his memory into sleaze, easy money and the drug culture. Jay Hamilton Jr. (Neal McDonough) has closed the local sawmill and put the town to work in his establishment, the local casino, full of "fake boobs and real assholes". Hamilton doesn't play fair, either in a friendly game of football, or on his craps table, cheating the customers. Vaughn openly challenges his casino and the local authorities and when that fails and he's beaten and left for dead by Hamilton's thugs, he takes matters into his own hands.

It's your usual here-to-take-out-the-trash story and it's a half-witted one at best, mixing unintentional hilarity and minimal character developement in a dull fusion. Director Kevin Bray's inexperience in filmic storytelling is clear. Hit the audience with a simple-minded story, with obvious set pieces and get out quick. The film is brief (87 mins) and overstays it's welcome by boring us.

There are three showstopping acts of rapid head-wood interface and the obligatory lame romance with a busty blonde ex-girlfriend, with almost no discernable heat onscreen. Also, throw in the old Die Hard moment of a man who couldn't pull his gun until it's nearly too late, more shades of Eastwood's The Gauntlet, and I feel like I'm just ticking off cliche checkboxes rather than reviewing a film.

The dialogue is perfunctory and cheesy, the story delivered for an audience with the attention span of a gnat - note the porn stores, the beggars, the pawnshops and the sidestreet drug-dealing in the opening credit scroll - and Bray brings fresh amateurism to stage fights, although the setups and music video stylings are occasionally effective. There's one sequence, after Vaughn roughs up the corrupt casino staff, where the lighting is overly bright and underexposed. The camera jump cuts and the sound is muted, very much like when memory fills with holes after an intense event.

On the positive side is The Rock's ability to carry such a preposterous and uneventful film on his very broad shoulders and the inclusion of Johnnie Knoxville, of Jackass fame, who tucks into character comedy and has a bit of fun with his role as Vaughn's buddy and eventual deputy. I found myself laughing out loud at the "Based On True Events" card, since the film is so clearly heightened for it's inspirational instant justice deliverer.

I am astonished that the film received a PG-13 in the US, with it's hero delivering his unique brand of bone-snapping and face-breaking. Even having embraced the 15 certificate in the UK, I'd be convinced that a heavily cut film like Lethal Weapon 4 would be released uncensored today, given the BBFC's complete leniency with this one. I have no problem with violence in film, but sometimes it is not suitable for young teenagers. The 15 rating is right on the money.

Back to The Rock. I really think he has a future ahead of him and, even after this load of tosh, I still think it's ahead of him. His ability to take the preposterous OTT events and keep the movie going will assure his success in the action picture genre.

I'd like more, please.. but not just of the same.