Straw Dogs

Haven’t seen this film in many years, so it was time to give it another view. The first time I watched this with my good friend Shawn and we were sorely disappointed until about the halfway point in the middle act. That’s when things started to pick up for us. Dustin Hoffman stars as a writer who escapes to Ireland to get some peace and quiet and work on his writings. However he is in for a rough ride as the local folk don’t take to kindly to him and his American demeanor. He’s having a garage built and that gives these ruffian men a reason to be swarming around the house on a daily basis. Eventually things reach a boiling point and he has to stand up like a man and defend his family.

Straw Dogs Trailer

I believe we first started watching this film because it said it was ‘banned in the UK’ on the front. And there are a pretty intense couple of scenes involving the wife and the men who forcibly have their way with her. But this gives the driving justification for Dustin to revenge in the final act. That scene is definitely the most intense in the film, and the acting is superb. The wife is so vulnerable during it and burns up the screen. There are a few times where it looks like she’s actually enjoying it, and then she turns back again. It’s just a real mind screw for the audience watching.

Throughout the whole movie Dustin is painted as a cowardly man who is overly passive and tends to turn his head when men make passes at his wife, or when she flirts back with them. We see very clearly how Dustin is left out hunting and slowly walking around in the fields as his wife is taken advantage of. His lack of passion and caring for her leads to destruction and ruin. Some of the hardest scenes to stomach is when they go to the party and she is forced to share glances with the men who raped her and has to bare this all by herself. The sporadic cuts back to the incident still haunt her/us.

The final act is where justification and revenge is served up. And it is well warranted. We see Dustin (David Summer) change from a cowardly man to a man that defends his house and wife. A feeling that I think every man can relate to . When everything is on the line, you have to step up and be a man. I’d do the same for my household too.

The film is beautifully shot and really incorporates the Ireland backdrop to aid in whisking us away to a different place and time. The story is excellent and the acting is top notch. His is a film that shouldn’t be missed, but isn’t for the faint of heart.

Rating: 8.75/10