Walking Tall (2004 film)
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| Walking Tall | |
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 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Kevin Bray |
| Produced by | Ashok Amritraj Jim Burke Paul Schiff Lucas Foster |
| Written by | David Klass Channing Gibson David Levien Brian Koppelman Mort Briskin (1973 screenplay) |
| Starring | The Rock Johnny Knoxville Neal McDonough Kristen Wilson Kevin Durand Ashley Scott Michael Bowen Mike Dopud |
| Music by | Graeme Revell |
| Cinematography | Glen MacPherson |
| Editing by | George Bowers |
| Studio | Hyde Park Entertainment Mandeville Films Burke/Samples/Foster Productions WWE Films |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | April 2, 2004 (United States) April 9, 2004 (Brazil) April 14, 2004 (Spain) April 16, 2004 (Indonesia) April 16, 2004 (Italia) April 21, 2004 (France) April 22, 2004 (Thailand) April 23, 2004 (Philippines & Venezuela) September 2, 2004 (Singapore) September 10, 2004 (Republic of Korea) |
| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $46,000,000 |
| Box office | Domestic: $46,437,717 Worldwide: $57,223,890 |
Walking Tall is a 2004 remake of the 1973 film of the same name. It stars Dwayne Johnson and Johnny Knoxville. Like the original film, it was based on real-life Sheriff Buford Pusser, however, the main character's name was changed to "Chris Vaughn". The setting was changed from McNairy County, Tennessee to Kitsap County, Washington, U.S.A.
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[edit] Plot
Chris Vaughn (Dwayne Johnson), a former U.S. Army Special Forces sergeant, returns to his small home town, Kitsap, identifiable by the sign on the police cars, in Washington State to find some work at the local cedar mill, but he finds that it closed down three years prior to his return. Now, there is a new casino in town, owned by his old school friend, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough), who is taking advantage of the chaotic economic situation. With the mill closed down, the casino is the main source of income for the town. Vaughn decides to check out the casino, and sees the craps dealer use loaded dice. When Vaughn tries to draw attention to this, the security guards attack him, then after subduing him, take him to the casino basement where he is beaten, mutilated then dumped on the side of an abandoned road and left for dead, but he is found and hospitalized, and eventually recovers. Vaughn goes to the Sheriff (Michael Bowen) to press charges against the guards, but the Sheriff refuses to allow Vaughn to press charges because the casino is viewed as too important to the town's economy, stating that because of their position that the casino is considered a "no fly zone". After this, Vaughn also finds out that his nephew, Pete (Khleo Thomas), experimented with crystal meth, which was sold to his friends by a casino security guard. Infuriated, Vaughn goes to the casino, and using a piece of lumber as a club, he beats the security guards, and makes his point to Jay Hamilton that he will not tolerate the crime in his town anymore. Vaughn is apprehended by the Sheriff and his deputies when he is trying to drive home.
In the ensuing trial, all of Hamilton's security and staff testify against Vaughn. When the Judge allows Vaughn to present his defense, he fires his attorney appointed to him (it is implied that Vaughn's attorney is under Hamilton's payroll as he sits back and does nothing to object to the testimonies of the security, and encourages Vaughn to take a plea bargain instead). After making a civic speech about the towns great former self (to the rebuttal of the opposition lawyers), Vaughn tells the jury and the rest of the town that if he is cleared of the charges, he will run for sheriff and clean up the town (even going so far as to show the jury and the rest of the audience the knife carving wounds due to the security team's assault on him at the casino prior to the latest incident). He is then acquitted, retrieves his lumber saying to the judge; "this is mine", later winning the election for sheriff. Upon taking office, he dismisses the entire police force and deputizes his friend, Ray Templeton (Johnny Knoxville), who he knows will remain loyal and fight for what he knows is right despite himself being a convicted criminal.
Vaughn and Templeton find hidden drugs on Hamilton's right-hand man and head of security Booth (Kevin Durand) (Templeton actually plants the drugs on Booth in order to give them reason to interrogate him), and they take him into custody. In an attempt to make him rat on other drug dealers, they tear his truck apart, but he does not talk. The next morning, the former Sheriff and his deputies arrive at the Sheriff's office where they blow up Vaughn's truck and try to kill him (presumably, by this point, under orders from Hamilton). While under fire in the Sheriff's office, Booth tells Vaughn where the drug base is, and where they make them, which is in the old mill. Soon after divulging this information, Booth is killed his comrade's indiscriminate gunfire. Vaughn is able to escape with some help from Deni (Ashley Scott), an old friend who had turned to working as a stripper in the casino, but quit her job after Chris became sheriff. In the firefight that ensues, Chris kills the former Sheriff and his men using Deni to divert the attention of their attackers.
Vaughn's parents' house is then raided by three of the other of Hamilton's thugs that worked as the security guards, but Templeton, who was asked to stay there and watch over the place by Vaughn, managed to dispatch the attackers and protect the Vaughn family with the help of Chris Vaughn Sr. (John Beasley), Chris Vaughn's father. Templeton and Vaughn Senior kill two of the men while the other is knocked out. Vaughn Junior then goes to the mill, and finds the drugs there, along with Hamilton, who sets a trap on Vaughn. A melee ensues and they fight for their lives in the woods behind the mill, with Vaughn eventually defeating Hamilton and placing him under arrest. Vaughn closes the casino and the mill is reopened.
[edit] Cast
- Dwayne Johnson as Chris Vaughn
- Johnny Knoxville as Ray Templeton
- Michael Bowen as Sheriff Stan Watkins
- Kevin Durand as Booth
- Neal McDonough as Jay Hamilton
- Kristen Wilson as Michelle Vaughn
- Ashley Scott as Deni
- Khleo Thomas as Pete Vaughn
- John Beasley as Christopher Vaughn Sr.
[edit] Production
In the original film, Pusser uses a wooden club to beat the criminals. Director Kevin Bray wanted to update it by making it a baseball bat. There were objections, so the compromise was just to add a handle. Although it was filmed in Squamish, B.C., Canada, the setting of this 2004 film is in semi-rural Kitsap County, Washington, and not in the McNairy County, Tennessee, where Buford Pusser originally served as a sheriff.
[edit] Reception
It received mostly negative reviews from critics. Based on 128 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 24% of critics gave Walking Tall a positive review, with an average rating of 4.4/10.[1]
Despite negative reception, the film was successful at the box office grossing $57,223,890 worldwide and $46,437,717 in domestic totals. The budget of the film was $46 million.[2]
[edit] Music
The southern rock/country band, State Line Mob included a song titled "McNairy County Line" on their 2008 album, Ruckus, which honors Buford Pusser and tells the story from a factual point of view.
[edit] Sequel
Walking Tall: The Payback and Walking Tall: Lone Justice, are two direct-to-video sequels that have been released starring Kevin Sorbo.
[edit] References
- ^ "Walking Tall (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/walking_tall/. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
- ^ "Walking Tall (2004)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=walkingtall.htm. Retrieved December 18, 2009.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Walking Tall at the Internet Movie Database
- Walking Tall at the TCM Movie Database
- Walking Tall at AllRovi
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