Susan Granger’s review of “Walking Tall” (MGM/UA)
In this vigilante tale, wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is Chris Vaughn, a solitary, self-righteous U.S. Special Forces soldier who returns home to Kipsat County in Washington State to carve out a new life for himself, only to discover his wealthy high-school rival, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), has closed the once-prosperous lumber mill and focused his attention on a sleazy casino which fronts for a lucrative drug-dealing operation. Not only has his old high-school girl-friend Deni (Ashley Scott) become a stripper amid the slot machines but the locals have been forced out of business by chain stores and their kids – like Chris’s nephew Pete (Khleo Thomas) – are into drugs obtained from the casino’s security force. Infuriated by the obvious corruption, Vaughn runs for sheriff, deputizes his recovering-addict buddy (Johnny “Jackass” Knoxville) and sets off to settle some scores. The original “Walking Tall” (1973) featured Joe Don Baker as the rural Tennessee lawman Buford Pusser – and it’s not really accurate to call this current, truncated version a re-make. The buff Rock is certainly bigger, if not better, wielding a cedar four-by-four as his big-stick weapon-of-choice. But it’s obvious that cost-control was the key production factor that influenced director Kevin Bray, because the overall impression is cheap, cheap, cheap – filming at minimal cost in Vancouver and casting lesser-known, less-expensive talent. The Rock has a recognizable name but no one else in the cast does. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Walking Tall” is a brutal, fracas-filled 4. And I question the PG-13 awarded by the MPAA; this should be an R-rated film since its explosive violence is quite unsuitable for youngsters.
