by Briana Applewhite ’13

There is a thin yet important line between meaningful violence and violence that is simply unnecessary. “Straw Dogs” falls into the latter distinction. Intended to be a suspenseful thriller that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, the movie instead repels viewers with cliché scare tactics and a ridiculous plot.

Set in Blackwater, Mississippi, the movie follows Hollywood screenwriter David Sumner (James Marsden) and wife/actress Amy Sumner (Kate Bosworth) who have moved for a change of scenery to help David write the next big Hollywood blockbuster.

“Straw Dogs“ disappoints audiences with an unrealistic, crude plot.

While this may seem like an unusual place to find inspiration, for David, Amy’s hometown is the perfect place to inspire his new film.

The movie takes flight when viewers are introduced to Amy’s ex-boyfriend, Charlie (Alexander Skarsgard). Amy’s marital status has little effect on Charlie’s renewed romantic interest, which leaves David very suspicious of both. Charlie always has this intense look in his eye that leaves David unsettled, yet he inexplicably hires Charlie and friends to work on some repairs in his house.

While David types away at his script, Charlie and his boys from high school constantly distract David as they play loud country music, raid the fridge for beer, and hang David and Amy’s cat in the closet. It’s hard to imagine that their tactics could be any more ridiculous.

Any self-respecting human being, and believable character, would have fired them on the spot when he discovered a dead cat in his closet, but not David. He allows the boys to stay on the job and even agrees to go hunting with them. Unbeknownst to David, the boys plan to take shots at him, ditch his body in the woods and sexually assault his wife.

The delayed climax of the story arrives 20 minutes later when David survives the earlier shooting and seeks revenge on Charlie and all of his friends. Viewers cheer for David to rise to the occasion and, with murderous intent, give the villains what they desperately deserve.

Even so, the gore and violence is so irrelevant in this film that it makes “Straw Dogs” appear comical. Poor plot development makes the last hour and a half a sluggish and mostly pointless one, which makes the final fifteen minutes, during which David reaches his psychological breaking point, all the more abrupt.

Due to his waste of valuable movie time, director Rob Lurie had no reason to so hastily wrap up the already unremarkable film. “Straw Dogs” is a disturbing, violent and long two-hour melodrama with an anti-climactic ending that has the audience rushing to the nearest exits.