Walking Tall

Reviewed by Rich Drees

     When the original version of Walking Tall was released in 1973, some saw it as a conservative reaction to the 1960s counterculture, while others saw it as a celebration of real life Tennessee law man Buford Pussard’s attempt to bring law back to his own home town. The 2004 remake starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson offers no such possible interpretations. In fact, this new version offers not much of anything.

     Returning home from eight years in the Special Forces, Chris Vaughn (Johnson) finds that his small Washington state hometown has drastically changed. The centerpiece of the town’s economy, a local lumber mill, has been shut down by the son of its original owners, Vaughn’s old schoolmate Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough). In its place, Hamilton has opened a casino. When Vaughn discovers that the casino is a front for the town’s growing drug trade, he vows to clean things up.

     The original film was known for its violence and this new version offers some fight scenes that are swift and brutal with an accompanying visceral crunch. Beyond that, this new version of Walking Tall has very little to offer. Outside of the film’s title and the lead character’s very large stick, there’s no much resembling the 1973 original in this new version. Some changes obviously had to be made. (Do you really expect The Rock to star in a movie where his character’s name is Buford?) However, with such a deviation from the source material, one wonders why the filmmakers have even bothered to call the film Walking Tall, as the expected younger audience for this new version probably hasn’t even heard of the original.

     With the exception of the few scenes between Johnson and Johnny Knoxville as Vaughn’s childhood friend, the acting is utterly flat and unmemorable. (Conversely, Knoxville’s solo comedic moments seem to totally out of place with the rest of the film.) The script for the film is as linear as it gets, with no surprises or story risks taken. With a run time that barely makes it to an hour and twenty minutes, even a bargain matinee ticket price will feel like you’re being overcharged.