No Halloween Tricks Here: The Rock’s Latest Is

Home Video’s Top Treat For Two Weeks Running

It’s Halloween weekend and Hollywood has given scare-seeking moviegoers more than a handful of choices, from the Sarah Michelle Gellar horror hit The Grudge (which nabbed $40 million last weekend to top the box office), to the thriller Saw, opening this weekend, and even a bevy of DVD releases, including the remake Dawn of the Dead, which was a hit earlier this year.

I considered going with a holiday-appropriate column for about 30 seconds before this ‘fraidy cat came to his senses and realized he wasn’t going anywhere near any of those frightening flicks.

So, instead, I took a peek at the DVD rental chart and saw that for two weeks running, the top rental across the country has been Walking Tall, starring The Rock (a/k/a Dwayne Johnson), of WWE fame, in a remake of the 1973 film.

Now, let me state for the record that I am not a WWE fan, especially as it has existed for the last couple of years. At best, I think it’s silly, lowbrow showmanship... a soap opera for guys. At worst, it’s misogynistic, crude violence masquerading as entertainment.

Now, having said that, I must also say, I like The Rock. Yeah, I said it. I like the guy. He boasts a likeability that reminds me of Arnie in his early screen career. In fact, I kinda liked The Rundown, released last fall, which was a simple, but effective action film that featured a cameo by a certain “Governator,” who delivered the line, “Have fun,” as if to pass the torch from one big-biceped action hero to an up-and-coming one.

 But perhaps Walking Tall also reminds me of Schwarzenegger’s early films (like Commando and Raw Deal) because it’s not particularly special. It doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not, nor aspire to be anything more. It simply feeds off the charisma of its star and, at a running time of 87 minutes, gets in, gets out, and gets you on with your day. While that plays fairly well as a DVD, it’s still a shame they didn’t push to be something more.

Walking Tall, which still claims to be inspired by the true story of Buford Pusser, even though the lead character, as played by The Rock, is now named Chris Vaughn, follows the story of a retired US Army Special Forces soldier who returns to his hometown in rural Washington state (there’s some wonderful location photography that lends the film a nice look and slightly different backdrop than the usual action movie) to find that a once tranquil town is now seedy and corrupt.

Former high school rival Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough, a talented actor who excelled in the short-lived TV series Boomtown), one of the town’s wealthiest members, has closed the area’s once prosperous lumber mill, and instead opened a crooked casino full of shady characters. Vaughn, who discovers that his former girlfriend (Ashley Scott) now works as a dancer at Hamilton’s seamy business, tries to uncover the establishment’s criminal ways, but quickly finds himself beaten to within two inches of his life for his troubles. When justice is slow to come calling (Hamilton has the local sheriff in his pocket), Vaughn decides to take matters (and a nifty 2 x 4) into his own hands.

Interestingly, the makers of this version decided to make the lead character a former military man instead of the former wrestler he was in the original film. That seems like it would have been a logical choice for The Rock, but perhaps they felt it would have hit too close to home and felt a bit self-referential or tongue-in-cheek.

As it is, this movie, directed by Kevin Bray in a very red meat and potatoes manner, is played very straight-up and boasts little irony, and perhaps even fewer laughs, although Johnny Knoxville has some fun as The Rock’s sidekick. All in all, despite some very well filmed fight scenes, it features little of note besides its star’s straightforward manner and its breezy pace.

Walking Tall is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence, sexual content, drug material and language.