2nd Movie Review

Walking Tall (2004)
Director: Kevin Bray

The other night I turned my TV on to see that Walking Tall, a movie staring the more famously recognized, The Rock, born Dwayne Johnson. I wasn’t expecting much but was pleasantly surprised in the end. The movie follows a man recently returning from the US army after serving for eight years. He is Special Forces Sergeant, Chris Vaugh, When Chris arrives in his home town seeking a job at the local mill he is shocked to find out it has been closed for six months, and that a former classmate of his named Jay has opened the Wild Cherry Casino that is now generating the small town’s revenue.

Chris meets up with his best friend Ray, Johnny Knoxville, and the two attend a friendly football game with their old buddies. The game turns ugly and this is the last thing Chris was anticipating for a welcome home. Ray and Chris are invited to join the boys at Jay’s casino that night but Chris quickly gets into a fight and is badly beaten by the casino thugs after he notices one of the dealers is cheating. This is a rude awakening or Chris, but not as bad as soon after when his young nephew Pete has an overdose on crystal meth supplied by the casino thugs. Now Chris is out for revenge with a 2 by 4 and destroys the casino. After a trial he is found innocent and is voted to be the new sheriff. He’s on a mission to clean the town up and he’ll do anything it takes. The remainder of the movie is basically Chris and Ray, now the only police in town, kicking everyone’s ass who deserves it and ultimately defeats Jay and the other criminal/mobsters in a bloody battle.

The movie is clearly a high concept film with an organized and structural story line. Its easy to follow and simple, but the actors provoke real emotion from an audience. There is great comic relief on Johnny Knoxville’s part and The Rock’s character is one you want to root for especially toward the end, which is usually what we hope or in a protagonist. There is some inventive action scenes and definitely great fight scenes. Some of the lines are corny but it isn’t overwhelmingly bad. It’s a film of pure entertainment that provides the audience with relatable characters in a believable and realistic situation. It makes the viewer put themselves in the character’s shoes, and the father in the film, played by John Beasley, provides a source of wisdom and honor that only lend themselves to the story. I thought the movie was really enjoyable and a nice break from your serious indie film. The characters weren’t cookie cutter and the locations made the movie that much more unique. It wasn’t up for any awards but was definitely worth my time. It’s a movie you can really get into if you like to see the bad guy lose, which most of us do, and the bad guy, Jay, was the kind we love to hate while still managing to be manipulatively charming. The story has a good message and shows what happens when someone really needs to stand up for what they know is right. We should all learn a thing for two from Walking Tall.