The whitebread milquetoast of James Marsden playing Dustin Hoffman, in a remake of a controversial and acidic Sam Peckinpah classic about wimps and the savage nature of man? Sacrilege!
Yes, that vile idea of a “Straw Dogs” remake is actually moving forward and we weep.
In what is yet another sad notch on the remake bedpost, James Marsden will star in a reimagining of the 1971 film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The project is written and directed by Rod Lurie (“Nothing But The Truth”) and will follow L.A. writer David Summer (Marsden) as he moves with his wife to her hometown in the deep South – a move with tense, conflicting and violent repercussions. The female lead, originally played by a comely Susan George has not yet been cast.
The original feature starred Dustin Hoffman in the lead role with the protagonist’s transition set in rural England rather than the Deep South. It also featured one of the most polemical rapes in the history of cinema (that was somehow contentious beyond a simple statutory offense). Both films are based on Gordon Williams’s novel “The Siege At Trencher’s Farm.”
We’d relish anything that echoed the southern brutality of “Deliverance,” (in this new film’s tone itself, not the molestation) but that seems unlikely. A film so base in this nature would probably be X rated these days, so it would seem they’re going to have to soften much of its sociological bite. We’ll see, but we’re obviously skeptical.
Marsden will next be seen in Richard Kelly’s “The Box,” set for an October 30th release, and has signed on to star in Neil LaBute’s remake of “Death At A Funeral,” whose illustrious casts includes Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover, Tracy Morgan, Columbus Short, Zoe Saldana and Luke Wilson.
Here’s a trailer for the original “Straw Dogs” to try and make you forget this is happening.