Q'n'D Review: Walking Tall

Methinks I'll keep this up, if there are no objections, as I'd like to sharpen my critical muse a bit, just to see if it hasn't atrophied. And I'll keep 'em short, honest. Much like this movie, The Rock's recent remake of the Joe Don Baker classic (well, as much as anything with Joe Don Baker can be labeled a classic - and no, I don't feel sorry for taking a shot at him, however weak - any guy who openly claimed he was gonna beat up the members of the MST3K staff for doing one of his movies gets no sympathy from me).

Anyway, nothing really offensive here. It's not horrible, but it sure ain't good, either. Just way too short to be anything substantial in either direction. Its depiction (hell, endorsement) of vigilante justice is a little bit unsettling, but hardly the call to arms the original seemed to be to some of its audiences. Here, it just reads like a standard revenge fable, and it starts, goes, and stops without doing much memorable, in either direction. I didn't regret watching it, nor do I want to see it again.

The movie does feature the single most ridiculous courtroom scene in a good long while (you kinda have to see it), but even that doesn't garner that much of a reaction. On the plus side, the Rock is growing as an actor and screen presence, and it's pretty clear that he's got the chops to be a really big star, if he gets the roles. (He may have one already - people in advance screenings are giving him raves for his turn in "Be Cool," the "Get Shorty" sequel.) His best performance, and best film, is still "The Rundown," but he leaves the forgettable "Walking Tall" pretty much unscathed.