Too much of everything

Memorable, crazy movie

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

At the time this movie came out it was very controversial, violent and nihilistic. But it is still worth watching today even though it is dated. Dustin Hoffman gives an incredible performance as a man possessive of his wife, insecure, jealous, and simultaneously frightened hunted and aggressive, excessively violent hunter. This movie should be watched by all film fans, not to guarantee you will like it but you will at least see a very different film with a unique point of view and some questionable morals.

In 1971 Sam Peckinpah made the bitter, internally aggressive film Straw Dogs. Starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George, Peckinpah injected such harsh realism in Straw Dogs which tells the story of a young couple who moved to England to avoid the violence becoming common in America. Isolation and class struggles are the driving issues in Straw Dogs and Peckinpah explores such issues thoroughly and with ease.David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) and his wife Amy (Susan George) are settling into their new home in Amy's native England. Fearing that America had grown too violent, pacifist David seeks to retreat to a more peaceful community. Quickly noticing many divisions in the area, the drunks/sober people, upper/lower class, David realizes idyllic England may not be as peaceful as he thought it would be. Being an astrophysicist, David enjoys a certain wealth and status that those working on his house do not. The more he is exposed to the stark class differences, the more David realizes how different England is than he thought. When a series of strange events happen in and around David and Amy's house, they both begin to believe the impoverished workers repairing their home are to blame. When David attempts to learn more about the workers and goes duck hunting with them, Amy, left home alone, is raped by two of the men. What next ensues is a violent brawl between David attempting to protect his wife and his home against the attack of the hostile men on the outside. Peckinpah spares no expense exposing the violence that surrounds everyday life, and that so often presents itself in the class conflicts that absorb life. Such elements are crucial to explore, and Peckinpah leaves no stone unturned in his raw exploration of isolation and class struggles. As effective as this exploration proves, it falls short with the casting of Dustin Hoffman. I just don't buy him as a leading actor in any capacity ever. He comes off so one-dimensional, especially in this film. We need a somewhat quiet and unassuming lead actor, but Hoffman is not the actor. The movie was paced very slowly and becomes difficult to engage with. With no likable characters anywhere within the film, the slow pacing makes it even more difficult to engage in. A better film with the same bitter personal deterioration is Joel Schumacher's 1993 film Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas. Likewise, there are no likable characters to attach to in that film either, but it is paced well enough to become engaged in watching the story unfold. I recognize the importance of Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, but it struggles with poor pacing and Dustin Hoffman.

I saw this movie when I was in my teens and decided to watch it again after I heard there has been a remake (which I have chosen not to see--I have always been suspicious of remakes. Ha ha).This movie is basically a social comment on the lower-middle class of Britain (or shall I say of England, since the movie is set in Cornwall, England), how vulgar, primitive, and uncouth the values and mores of average lower middle class there had been in the late 1960' and early 70's, under the veneer of apparent civility. The townspeople including the reverend, taunt the protagonist (played by Hoffman)who is an American, with remarks on the racial tension or the nuclear bombs of the U.S. (insinuating 'moral hazard' and the threat the U.S. posed to the humankind, with the implication that they the British people were morally superior relative to the Americans.) Well, actually the Britishers turn out to be not so morally superior as the plot develops--they murder, rape, steal, cheat and harass people from outside. (The movie had been banned in Britain until 2002. I suspect the supposedly 'controversial' rape scene was not the real agenda for the ban.)Britain has been and is basically a class society, probably even more so than the pre-1917 revolution Russsia. The lower class live vulgar and the 'upper class' live pretending to be not so vulgar--however they are all the same--as Sam Peckinpah portrays the 'reverend.' The English are dangerous people to trust--They are treacherous, under veneer of civility. If you are stranded in a lifeboat with them. They will kill and eat you. Do not trust them just because they sing opera aria.

Extremely powerful piece of work, though I can not say it was enjoyable but excruciating. For me the female lead created a lot of woe in this film. She is brilliantly naive and annoying and causes so much conflict for the plot to chew upon. The actress performs awesomely, as does every other actor in this. !0/10 for script, casting, character development and direction. Brilliant film making team work but not a pleasant film. Very memorable though.In film school I did an essay on an aspect of films regarding how often female characters are used as plot obstacles for the males to overcome in order to advance the story. Here this is happening, yet it goes further in that her suffering becomes a big part of the story along side her carrying out so many ultimately destructive actions. There are also many male characters that perform many destructive actions here. I recommend this if you appreciate solid character development.