Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston
Although, at first glance, it looks like a movie that might star Nicholas Cage in his post-Oscar action picture cash grab or as a soon-to-be cancelled series on Fox, Drive--starring Ryan Gosling as the Driver--is getting great reviews.
Gosling stars as an stuntman who spends his evenings as a getaway driver for armed heists. When his boss (played by Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad") gets in over his head to the local tough guys, the Driver gets involved with one of those "big score" jobs that define movies like this.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: Very Fresh (sitting at 93%)
Directed by Douglas McGrath
Starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer
I read this book! I didn't care for the story much, but the writing was great so.... That doesn't help us here, does it?
Sarah Jessica Parker takes time off from looking disappointed with Matthew Broderick and lobbying for Sex in the City 3: Nudist Colony to star as Kate, a 30-something (who's SJP kidding?) wife, mother, and financial analyst. To the rest of the world, Kate looks like the perfect everything, but she's drowning in a sea of her own stress. It's supposed to be a comedy. I think.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: Really Rotten (20% as of this writing)
Directed by Rod Lurie
Starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgard
The original Straw Dogs (1971; directed by Sam Peckinpah) is one of the more challenging movies I've ever seen. Love it or hate it, it uses violence deliberately to challenge the viewer's ideas on morality and vengeance. It's a film that every burgeoning movie buff should seek out.
That's why this remake puzzles me. There's absolutely no need for it. I'll acquiesce that there's little need for most remakes, but this one befuddles me. Peckinpah's film is near perfect and Dustin Hoffman, in the main role as a timid man pushed over the edge, is absolutely brilliant. I just don't buy that this version, from the director/writer of the short-lived TV series "Commander in Chief" (remember? Geena Davis as the first female President?) and starring the hot vampire from "True Blood", will be much to remember. I sort of hope I'm wrong. The premise alone deserves a storyteller's respect and I would hate for a younger generation to know it only through a deflated remake.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: Rotten (Turns out I'm not wrong. Rent the original.)
