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Rod Lurie, director-writer of the upcoming Straw Dogs, naturally doesn't want his film to be compared too precisely to Sam Peckinpah's original 1971 version. So he's cast the very un-Dustin Hoffmanish James Marsden (next in The Box) in the husband role. Hoffman's character was a dweeby mathmetician but Marsden's is a big-city writer, as was the original character in the book, The Siege at Trencher's Farm.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on April 23, 2009 at 7:58 AM

comment #1

Jack South P.I. says ...

I still wish Ed Norton was starring in this. Marsden has never registered with me. Not bad but never that good either. Never the standout.

Posted by Jack South P.I. at April 23, 2009 8:35 AM

comment #2

snoop says ...

I think this is actually pretty cool. I've grown to like Marsden increasingly with each film he's done. Admittedly he was a blank slate in the X-Men films, but that's because he was cast as a blank slate. The role was terribly written as a pale comparison to Wolverine, and so that's what the guy played. As far as it goes, he nailed playing a tool.

However, outside of that series he's done some nice work. His other man work in The Notebook and Superman Returns was solid, but this comedic run he's been on (Hairspray, Enchanted, Sex Drive) has been pretty impressive. And I know it's jsut a ho-hum movie, but he was most certainly the standout in 27 Dresses.

Having said that, I haven't seen his more dramtic material (10th and Wolk, The 24th Day), so he might just be a cool likable enough guy. But those looked like B-movies; I'm interested to see what he can do in bigger films that eschew the fun roles he's gotten quite good at. With Nailed and The Box on his slate, I defintely think he's choosing interesting films. This news only enhances that.

Posted by snoop at April 23, 2009 8:50 AM

comment #3

Sabina E says ...

I don't understand why there's a remake of Straw Dogs. Why can't he just write his own goddamned screenplay and make up a new story? So many "filmmakers" today can't bloody come up with their own stories. Pathetic.

Posted by Sabina E at April 23, 2009 8:53 AM

comment #4

Bilge says ...

I like Marsden, but I can't help but think this has a lot more to do with the fact that people who look like Dustin Hoffman don't often get cast as leads in major films anymore.

Posted by Bilge at April 23, 2009 9:04 AM

comment #5

Circumvrent says ...

For the last few years, Mardsen has routinely been putting in some great performances in some so-so movies. He's the male Anna Farris: good talent, awful choices. So I'm looking forward to this.

Posted by Circumvrent at April 23, 2009 9:11 AM

comment #6

anonymous2 says ...

Marsden is getting more likable but he still doesn't have a chance to make this remake anything but ridiculous. And the setting is the "Deep South"? That's just offensive.

Posted by anonymous2 at April 23, 2009 9:24 AM

comment #7

clancy says ...

This is either a shrewd move by Lurie - avoiding the comparisons to Hoffman - or none of the Hoffman lookalikes would take the role for fear of being killed by thye critics.

In any case, he is a damn good actor.

And to Anonymous2, I do not understand what is so offensive about putting it in the South. because the baddies will be from the South? I can't imagine that the film will be directed as if these guys are from the cast of Deliverance.

The first film is nowhere near as good as its reputation. This one may be better - but Hoffman was kick ass in it.

Posted by clancy at April 23, 2009 9:29 AM

comment #8

115thDreamer says ...

Ugh...I hadn't heard about this - odd choice for a remake. Good God - what is Lurie going to do about the rape scene? And if Marsden is the lead, who is he going to cast as the wife? Young, preferably southern actress, who is open to being pawed at by large men in overalls....I'm blanking.

Posted by 115thDreamer at April 23, 2009 9:40 AM

comment #9

Ryansi51 says ...

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Posted by Ryansi51 at April 23, 2009 9:44 AM

comment #10

paul_kolas says ...

This will be about as bad as Van Sant's take on "Psycho". Not that I'm putting Peckinpah's film on that level, but if Lurie thinks he can create the same kind of subliminal tension that Peckinpah did with his masterful use of editing, he's nuts.

Posted by paul_kolas at April 23, 2009 9:53 AM

comment #11

George Prager says ...

Abe Vigoda should play the head of the hillbilly family.

Posted by George Prager at April 23, 2009 9:54 AM

comment #12

anonymous2 says ...

Clancy, offensive is too strong and not the right word but I do picture the baddies being Deliverance stereotypes or something like Dwight Yoakam in Sling Blade. I enjoyed the unfamiliarity of the English countryside and found it much more unsettling than a deep south setting.

Posted by anonymous2 at April 23, 2009 9:55 AM

comment #13

PrinceGnarles says ...

Since The Contender, all of Lurie's films feature casts that are so, I don't know, boring, for lack of a better word. Never do you hear who he has cast and say, "that actor in that role sounds interesting or exciting." All decent actors, but blah. You could take the actors in any of his films and insert them into an original TNT movie and no one would blink an eye. And don't anyone mention The Castle, because Robert Redford has been a dud for decades.

Posted by PrinceGnarles at April 23, 2009 10:14 AM

comment #14

frankbooth says ...

"...people who look like Dustin Hoffman don't often get cast as leads in major films anymore." Unless they're members of the Coppola family.

I think the deep South is plenty unsettling, but Deliverance has already done that to perfection. And Straw Dogs has already done Straw Dogs to perfection.

This will join the long line of recent remakes that never happened in my reality. Red Dragon, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw, Black Christmas, Dawn of the Dead (don't tell me it's good, I've seen clips and you're a liar), Last House on the Left, The Omen, Pelham, etc etc.

It will come and go, and I'll watch the original every five or ten years and say "hey, didn't some guy remake this...?" And everyone will agree that this sounds right as we scratch our heads and try to remember who it was.

Posted by frankbooth at April 23, 2009 10:33 AM

comment #15

Wiggumx says ...

The Dawn of the Dead remake was pretty good. And having a different opinion than you does not make me a liar. Don't be so melodramatic.

Posted by Wiggumx at April 23, 2009 10:49 AM

comment #16

anonymous2 says ...

Maybe Lurie can incorporate some of those right wing radicals from last week into the mix.

Posted by anonymous2 at April 23, 2009 10:53 AM

comment #17

frankbooth says ...

I'm NOT melodramatic! I'm not, I'm NOT!!!

I HATE YOU!!!! You're TEARING ME APAAAAAAART!!!

Posted by frankbooth at April 23, 2009 11:02 AM

comment #18

MilkMan says ...

Rod Lurie is a wart on Sam's pecker.

Too bad Bloody Sam is dead. I can imagine his reaction to the news of one of his movies being remade. It would probably involve Lurie covered in a fifth of Wild Turkey, a lit match, and a gun.

One of the great movies that was never made was Peckinpah's version of Moby-Dick.

Lurie looks like the type who likes to come across as a tough (nice cigar, ROD), wild and crazy and apt to destroy anything in his way. Peckinpah was the real thing. That's the difference between the original being a genuinely odd and disturbing film, and this already prolapsed re-do being something that occupies your time while you burrow to the bottom of a bag of popcorn.

Posted by MilkMan at April 23, 2009 11:08 AM

comment #19

Mark says ...

We get it Marsden. You've made your point. Something about your apparently perfect persona repels women from you. Your this generation's Sam Neil. Congrats. You can play Alfred Ludlow in the Legends prequel.

Posted by Mark at April 23, 2009 11:11 AM

comment #20

George Prager says ...

I eagerly await the remake of BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA starring David Schwimmer.

Posted by George Prager at April 23, 2009 11:17 AM

comment #21

MilkMan says ...

That was funny, George.

Posted by MilkMan at April 23, 2009 11:19 AM

comment #22

TVMCCA says ...

115thDreamer wrote:
And if Marsden is the lead, who is he going to cast as the wife?

Sienna Miller?

Posted by TVMCCA at April 23, 2009 11:45 AM

comment #23

rr3333 says ...

Usually guys with Mardsen's looks end up on 'General Hospital', but he's obviously got some chops.

Posted by rr3333 at April 23, 2009 12:12 PM

comment #24

D.J.Z. says ...

Circumvrent: "He's the male Anna Farris: good talent, awful choices."

Farris has the opposite problem of Marsden.

Posted by D.J.Z. at April 23, 2009 1:24 PM

comment #25

televisiontears says ...

Yeah. When I hear the name Rod Lurie, the first thing that pops in my head is "the violently bleak nature of the damaged male psyche". I mean he made a movie about a BOXER! A BOXER, people!

There's no way this will be anything but a fucking joke, and by no fault of Marsden's. It might actually be interesting to watch his descent into unhinged territorial pissings.

My prediction: another really good Marsden performance in a bad movie.

Posted by televisiontears at April 23, 2009 1:38 PM

comment #26

BurmaShave says ...

Lurie is a sometimes decent writer but he's hardly a filmmaker. This will be his be a disaster.

Posted by BurmaShave at April 23, 2009 1:39 PM

comment #27

Dance Commander says ...

The Marsden thing can go either way. It'll be on him and whatever talent he possesses. In a way he's perfect. He always plays bland, passive, emotionally understanding characters. It'll be interesting to see if he can lose it and go psycho on a bunch of rednecks.

Posted by Dance Commander at April 23, 2009 1:46 PM

comment #28

ZayTonday says ...

Wait, starring James Marsden, and it's not set in rural england? And written + directed by Rod Lurie? This is gonna be a TURD.

Posted by ZayTonday at April 23, 2009 2:14 PM

comment #29

frankbooth says ...

Have they signed up Tim Blake Nelson yet? How 'bout William Sanderson?

Posted by frankbooth at April 23, 2009 2:54 PM

comment #30

TVMCCA says ...

Among other misgivings, the fact that the project landed at Screen Gems makes me wonder if there will be the kind of Sony micromanagement ensuring a PG-13 programmer like Neil LaBute's LAKEVIEW TERRACE.

Posted by TVMCCA at April 23, 2009 3:23 PM

comment #31

clancy says ...

There are a lot of assumptions going on here. I, for one, think the original is vastly over rated. And it looks like the book is the underlying material here - not the opeckinpah film. We may all be very surprised by what results from all this.

And ZayTonday - I do not know if you are a film maker, but I am pretty sure you disin't get your actors oscar, SAG, Golden globe nominatins and wins like Lurie did. Give the guy a fucking chance. Geez.

Posted by clancy at April 23, 2009 3:29 PM

comment #32

MilkMan says ...

Clancy, I don't know if you are an actor, but I'm pretty sure that Jeff Bridges and Joan Allen don't need the help nor the direction of Rod Lurie to give award-winning performances.

And I have given the guy a chance. I've seen all of his movies so far, and with the exception of the Contender, which was sporadically entertaining in a hackey, Playhouse 90 kind of way, all of them were slightly below mediocre in both conception and execution. Lurie isn't Uwe Boll or Paul W.S. Anderson, but to expect anything out of him that is beyond so-so seems to me to be refuting the evidence. You don't get many chances after directing The Soloist, er, I mean, Resurrecting the Champ. Yech. But I should've known better.

Posted by MilkMan at April 23, 2009 3:46 PM

comment #33

George Prager says ...

And after we see the film, we're going to eat the film. It'll be buffet style, so help yourselves...there's potato salad, my wife made coffee...

Posted by George Prager at April 23, 2009 3:57 PM

comment #34

MilkMan says ...

I bet your wife has a fucking mouth on her, George.

Posted by MilkMan at April 23, 2009 4:02 PM

comment #35

Wiggumx says ...

This thread is entertaining.

Posted by Wiggumx at April 23, 2009 4:30 PM

comment #36

televisiontears says ...

"I bet your wife has a fucking mouth on her, George."

I just about shit myself after reading this. In a good way.

Posted by televisiontears at April 23, 2009 6:16 PM

comment #37

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Don't kid yourselves -- Rod Lurie has worked himself up to the point to where he knows exactly what he's doing and how to do it. He's well on his way to becoming the new Otto Preminger.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at April 23, 2009 7:40 PM

comment #38

MilkMan says ...

Jeffey Wells connects with a kick to the head.

Posted by MilkMan at April 23, 2009 7:52 PM

comment #39

Gaydos says ...

So glad they're keeping the original title. Much snappier than "Bring me the head of a pre-sold action title which is the closest thing to a safe payday in 2009 Hollywood."

Posted by Gaydos at April 23, 2009 8:06 PM

comment #40

Gordon27 says ...

"or something like Dwight Yoakam in Sling Blade."

A really, really intense and scary villain?

One of the great performances of an alcoholic in recent memory?

Not sure what you're going for here, but Rod Lurie can hope and pray he acheives as good a villain as BBT got in 'Sling Blade' with Yoakam.

Posted by Gordon27 at April 23, 2009 8:40 PM

comment #41

Gordon27 says ...

"He's well on his way to becoming the new Otto Preminger."

You know, I really, really want to snark on this one, but I'm not going to. I will simply ask, "In what sense?" Can you give me an example of a good project that Rod Lurie has ever been involved in? Because the ones I've seen have one thing in common with Preminger -- well-meaning but exceedingly dated. Preminger gets a pass on it because he made movies fifty years ago.

Posted by Gordon27 at April 23, 2009 8:43 PM

comment #42

TVMCCA says ...

No snark intended, but I think both Lurie and Edward Zwick could be compared to Stanley Kramer in terms of making mainstream star-driven social issues films.

Posted by TVMCCA at April 24, 2009 12:15 AM

comment #43

Gordon27 says ...

I think Zwick could be the modern day Preminger, or Kramer, that's a good analogy.

Posted by Gordon27 at April 24, 2009 1:07 AM

comment #44

BurmaShave says ...

Rod Lurie is well on his way to becoming the director of LAURA and ANATOMY OF A MURDER? Wells I know he's your friend but that's one of the most sincerely daft things you've ever said.

Posted by BurmaShave at April 24, 2009 4:56 AM

comment #45

clancy says ...

Joan Allen and Jeff bridges gave, one could argue, among the best performaces of their careers in that film. As did Oldman. And Elliottt.

I buy the Premingr analogy. he has not yet made a LAURA, but I understand what Wells is talking about. Lurie is not a stylist - but a straightshooter hellbent on great performances.

I happened to love jackson in "Resurrecting" and, again, for what its worth, Hartnett was at his best.

Posted by clancy at April 24, 2009 8:17 AM

comment #46

George Prager says ...

Does that mean that we'll have a SKIDOO remake (with music and lyrics by Rupert Wainwright) a few years down the road?

Posted by George Prager at April 24, 2009 9:47 AM

comment #47

Gordon27 says ...

"I happened to love jackson in "Resurrecting" and, again, for what its worth, Hartnett was at his best."

If that's his best, his best is still terrible, and hardly can be distinguished from his worst.

Posted by Gordon27 at April 24, 2009 10:54 AM

comment #48

Gordon27 says ...

"Joan Allen and Jeff bridges gave, one could argue, among the best performaces of their careers in that film. As did Oldman. And Elliottt."

I would certainly disagree with these, but I would say they're all first-rate actors who give good performances. Hartnett aside (and no director other than Rodriguez has gotten a good performance out of Hartnett), Lurie tends to get good performances. That may even make up for his inabilities as a visual stylist/storyteller.

But Otto Preminger had the good sense not to write his own movies. When Lurie starts hiring good writers, he might have a chance to make strong films like Preminger or Stanley Kramer. Until then, it's going to be good actors performing overwrought melodrama written according to the tenets of Bob McKee.

Posted by Gordon27 at April 24, 2009 11:04 AM

comment #49

Gaydos says ...

To really polish this apple to a perfect shine, this project needs Billy Bob Thornton to play the menacing ex boyfriend and Lindsay Lohan to play the young wife coming home. (I didn't write this, it was dictated from the grave by someone named Sam.)

Posted by Gaydos at April 24, 2009 5:09 PM

comment #50

lipranzer says ...

Having just finished NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, I can say I have no hope for Lurie's remake of STRAW DOGS whatsoever, and not just because I like the original so much. Lurie does get good performances out of actors - someone mentioned THE LAST CASTLE, and while Redford was meh in that, James Gandolfini gave one of his best performances, and in TRUTH, Vera Farmiga and Alan Alda are both terrific - but he can't resist hyping his scripts, and he hasn't a clue how to end them well. THE CONTENDER and LAST CASTLE both went completely ham-fisted at the end, and the ending of TRUTH made me want to throw things at the TV screen.

Posted by lipranzer at April 24, 2009 7:26 PM

comment #51

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comment #52

dd says ...

Outside of that series he's done some nice work. His other man work in The Notebook and Superman Returns was solid, but this comedic run he's been on (Hairspray, Enchanted, Sex Drive) has been pretty impressive. And I know it's jsut a ho-hum movie, but he was most certainly the standout in 27 Dresses.

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comment #53