Straw Dogs 2011

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: [It] doesn't bring anything new to the table. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The movie is like being waterboarded by liberals outside a Democratic National Committee event. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The original Straw Dogs, at least to me, isn't close to being one of Peckinpah's masterpieces, but it's a movie that the people who first saw it still remember 40 years later. I doubt that anyone will remember the new one by next month. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: The filmmaker's ham-fisted attempts to supply some socio-political relevance to such intractable material finally lands him in a deeper, murkier swamp... Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: As a filmmaker, Mr. Lurie cannot hope to match Peckinpah's lyricism, but he strikes a decent balance of bluntness and subtlety. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Smug, savage...and infuriating. Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: Lurie informs his movie with plenty of nods to the original and at least manages a story that will have people talking - if not about the nature of human violence, then about the grisly depiction of it. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: A rote revenge thriller attempting to shoulder more philosophical weight than it can bear. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Back in 1971, the Peckinpah film horrified moviegoers with its bloody climax, whereas today people are so vengeful and sadistic that the remake is just another multiplex crowd pleaser. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Rod Lurie's bird-brained remake of "Straw Dogs" doesn't work on its own terms, and it can't hold a candle to the unruly, unstable merits of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 original. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: Everything here plays out to the same beats and yet ultimately results in conventional revenge-minded catharsis rather than queasy ambivalence. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Whereas Peckinpah managed not only to raise hackles but to get under the skin, Lurie manages only the former, which reduces the material to the level of sensation-mongering. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Straw Dogs is an artful provocation -- a meditation on masculinity and societal mores in the guise of an explosive thriller. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: While Lurie could have gone lighter on the symbolism, he ratchets up the tension with deft intelligence. He's not just making a thriller but a horror film, and we feel his own fear in every scene. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: One of those movies that sits in an armchair, smokes a pipe and reflects "seriously" on "the question of violence," but the main reason to see it is for the hilariously nasty uses it devises for a bear trap, nail gun, etc. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Almost succeeds as an object lesson in the difference between being a man and being a macho animal. But it fails as a gripping home-invasion thriller. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Lurie, like Peckinpah, is fascinated by the idea that the seemingly mild, non-confrontational pacifist may be the villain in all of this. Read more

Richard Roeper, Richard Roeper.com: The new 'Straw Dogs' is one of the more brutal films in recent years. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I found it visceral, disturbing and well-made. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Lurie wants us to see the moral wounds that come from losing control, a solid reason for a remake. Both takes on Straw Dogs hold up a dark mirror to humanity. Choose your own bad medicine. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Most details are in place, but the technique and inspiration are missing. Read more

Joe Holleman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: For the most part, Lurie's remake serves as a credible update to the original, and the performances from Skarsgard, Marsden and Bosworth are solid. Read more

Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail: A routine, if rather gruesome thriller with attractive leads ducking in and out of danger. Read more

Jordan Riefe, TheWrap: Read more

Keith Uhlich, Time Out: Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: You can understand Lurie's motivation for remaking Straw Dogs, and applaud the competence of his filmmaking and casting, while at the same time lamenting what has happened to him. Read more

Andrew Barker, Variety: The protagonists have become more likable and empowered, motivations have become more cut and dried, and references to underlying political schisms are downplayed. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: There's no matching the sinister village faces in Peckinpah's cast or the psychological acuity of his scene-making, but Lurie shows himself man enough for the material. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Lurie's smart enough to know that we're supposed to be disturbed -- and not titillated -- by the savagery the movie depicts. Read more