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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: Walking Tall (2004)
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #502: Walking Tall (2004)
The Walking Tall Marathon: Week 3
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that has never tried to replace boards on a wooden porch because I just don’t have the tools to do it and am way too lazy to find out what tools you actually need to do it, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number five hundred and two, the Walking Tall marathon concludes with the Walking Tallremake, also called Walking Tall, which stars The Rock and hit movie theaters in early April of 2004.
Walking Tall (2004)
Walking Tall, directed by Kevin Bray, is a solid if underwhelming action flick that basically exists as a starring vehicle for The Rock. As a remake of the 1974 original Walking Tall, it’s a somewhat reworked and truncated retelling of the Buford Pusser story, and by truncated I mean Walking Tall the 2004 remake is officially 86 minutes but, in reality, is barely over 70 minutes. I like that it’s a quick in-and-out movie that showcases what The Rock can do as an action star and, well, a movie star, but it sure seems like it should have a little more to it. I wonder how many people saw this in a movie theatre and sat through thirteen minutes of end credits expecting more at the very, very end.
The Rock stars as Chris Vaughn, a badass ex-Special Forces operator who leaves the army and goes back to his Pacific Northwest hometown to work in the old wood mill (apparently it’s what he’s always wanted to do with his life). Unfortunately for Vaughn, the old will has closed down, and the town overall has fallen into a kind of depression, with many businesses closed on main street and whatnot. The only thriving part of town seems to be the new casino owned by his old high school sort of friend Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough). After hanging out with his Mom and Dad (Barbara Tarbuck and the great John Beasley) and meeting up with his old friends (one of them is Ray Templeton, played by Johnny Knoxville) to play touch football against Hamilton and his group of asshole friends, Vaughn goes to Hamilton’s casino, at Hamilton’s invitation, to see what the heck the place is all about. The casino is both a gambling den and a place where hot babes dance provocatively (no nudity because the movie is PG-13). Everyone inside seems to be having a good time. Everyone except Vaughn. He loses interest in the casino when he watches his old girlfriend Deni (Ashley Scott) in a private dancing booth and when he witnesses the casino employees cheating (there’s a bit dealing with loaded dice that pisses Vaughn off). Loudly talking about the cheating in front of everyone in the casino sends security after Vaughn and his friends to remove them from the premises. Vaughn destroys most of the security guards one-on-one, but when they gang up on him they overwhelm him and Taser him into submission. The security guards then take Vaughn out back, beat the shit out of him some more, and then cut his body up with a box cutter. The security guards then leave Vaughn for dead on a bridge.
The next day, Vaughn wakes up in the hospital and, a few days after that, goes home to recuperate. While watching TV and whatnot at home, Vaughn stews about what happened to him and decides to go to the sheriff and file charges against the casino’s security contingent. The sheriff, played by Michael Bowen, doesn’t think that’s a wise idea and tells Vaughn to drop the whole thing. Realizing right then and there that Sheriff Stan Watkins is bought and paid for by Hamilton, Vaughn decides that he has to do something about all of the nasty shit happening in his town. But what can he do? What?
A few days later, after Vaughn’s nephew Pete (Khleo Thomas) is sent to the hospital after using crystal meth that his dipshit hoodlum friends bought from a guy at the casino, Vaughn decides to go the casino for himself and take out the bad guys there. Vaughn takes his shotgun with him, but he doesn’t bring it inside with him. Instead, Vaughn enters the casino with a two-by-four and just destroys the place. Gaming tables are toppled, Windows and mirrors are smashed. And Vaughn absolutely decimates the casino’s security detail, the same guys that beat the shit out of him and sent him to the hospital (there’s a terrific arm breaking scene here that will make you cringe). Sheriff Watkins shows up and, as you would expect him to, arrests Vaughn for assault, destruction of private property, etc. Vaughn’s eventual lawyer tells him to plea out so he doesn’t go to prison. Vaughn decides against his lawyer’s advice and defends himself in court. After a harrowing three minute trial, Vaughn is found not guilty and vows, right then and there, to run for sheriff. Vaughn wants to clean up the town.
Some stuff happens, including some sort of election, and suddenly Vaughn is the new sheriff. Vaughn’s first order of business is to fire the entire department. Vaughn then hires Templeton as his new deputy. How the heck is Vaughn going to clean up the town and shut Hamilton down with only himself and one deputy, a former drunk and drug user and felon? It would have been nice to see Vaughn systematically take down Vaughn’s operation, but for whatever reason the movie isn’t interested in that. Instead, after humiliating Hamilton during a traffic stop, Hamilton decides that Vaughn has to be destroyed, so he sends his henchmen after Vaughn and Vaughn’s family. Violence ensues. The last section of the movie has Vaughn and Templeton taking on Hamilton’s goons, and, as tends to happen in these kinds of action movies, Vaughn and Hamilton have one final brawl to settle everything.
As I said earlier, Walking Tall (2004) is really only concerned with two things, being a fairly bloodless action movie and showing the star potential of The Rock (Walking Tall was his third starring vehicle after The Scorpion King and The Rundown). When you look at Walking Tall one those two counts, the movie succeeds quite well. The fight sequences are well shot and exciting, especially the final battle between Vaughn and Hamilton, which is just insane. There’s gunplay that’s decent enough (the movie doesn’t really have shootouts, at least shootouts as they’re generally understood). There’s also a great exploding truck sequence that must have been deafening in a movie theatre. And The Rock (he hadn’t become “Dwayne Johnson” yet) shows that he has all the potential in the world to be a top notch action star and, to a lesser extent, actor. The Rock is shockingly agile in his fight scenes, and doesn’t look ridiculous here holding a gun. His natural charisma and sense of humor gets to shine through, too, especially in his scenes with Johnny Knoxville. I’d imagine that if Walking Tall had been made in this day and age the movie would have more of The Rock being funny in it (his sheriff election would have been a riot), but director Bray wants The Rock to be a badass and nothing more. It’s limiting but, at the same time, it works. The Rock can do that kind of thing, too, and do it well.
Now, as I also said, I love that Walking Tall moves along quickly and is happy being an action movie/action vehicle for The Rock, but, in the end, it moves along way too quickly and could have used more of damn near everything in it. I’d like to see more of Vaughn’s hometown, more of the town’s crime issues, more of The Rock with his family, more of The Rock as sheriff, and more of Hamilton being a criminal asshole scumbag. The pace of the movie is actually decent right up until Vaughn becomes sheriff. I mean, suddenly, Vaughn is the new sheriff. How did that happen? What was the campaign like? What kind of shit did Hamilton do to Vaughn’s campaign? And if Hamilton essentially owns the town, how did his people in government allow Vaughn to become sheriff? The town must have a mayor or town executive or something, right? How did he or she react to Vaughn’s sheriff’s campaign?
It almost seems like it would have made more sense to have the movie end with Vaughn becoming sheriff after taking on Hamilton’s goons and whatnot, getting the town to believe in him, etc. We could have seen Vaughn expose the corruption in the town, talk about it to the media, shit like that. The movie still could have had a big brawl between Vaughn and Hamilton, but the election would have been more important to the overall story. But then, I guess, winning an election isn’t what most action movies are about, so I can see why the focus of the movie wasn’t on that.
I do have a question, though. After the big shootout at the sheriff’s station, where the old sheriff and his deputies open up on the sheriff’s station with machine guns and whatnot and Vaughn kills all of them, who processed the crime scene, removed the dead bodies, etc. after all that?
And how did Vaughn get the old mill back up and running?
There are just so many unanswered questions here. Did anyone involved with the movie think about this stuff when they were putting the movie together? I want to know this stuff, dammit!
Neal McDonough is excellent as Hamilton, the sleazy rich scumbag asshole that “owns” the town and the casino and everything else. McDonough knows how to just stand there with his hands in his pockets and be the worst person in the whole world. McDonough also knows how to make his voice creepy by just changing the speed of his words ever so slightly. I think you’ll be surprised at how well he does, physically, against The Rock in the end. You know he isn’t going to take him, but he gives The Rock a serious run for his money (it’s all in the way he swings that axe).
Johnny Knoxville is way better than I thought he would be as Vaughn’s old buddy Ray Templeton. His character isn’t consistent at all, but Knoxville makes the most of what he’s given to do. He has pretty good chemistry with The Rock and those are his best scenes. His action scenes, though, aren’t that great but are watchable. I’m surprised the movie didn’t have him do some insane stunt.
Ashley Scott is barely in the movie as Deni, Vaughn’s old girlfriend. She does have some chemistry with The Rock, you can believe they have a past and could have been a couple back in the day, but the only thing you’re likely to remember about her performance is when she’s running for cover, clad only in a red bra and blue jeans, avoiding machine gun fire. It’s a weird thing to see. It’s almost like she would have been topless in these scenes if the movie had been trying for an R rating.
John Beasley has some nice scenes as Vaughn’s father, Chris Vaughn, Sr., including one terrific scene involving a shotgun. Barbara Tarbuck is okay as Vaughn’s mother Connie (she’s in the movie, yes, but her performance barely registers because she isn’t given much to do). Kristen Wilson also isn’t given much to do as Vaughn’s sister Michelle, which is insane in retrospect since the town has a drug problem. Why don’t we see her dealing with drug overdoses and whatnot on a daily basis?
And then there’s Khleo Thomas as Pete, Vaughn’s nephew. This kid is annoying. I couldn’t stand him. I’m suspecting that was what the movie was going for, at least initially (you know, know-it-all pre-teen/teen who eventually learns a lesson about being a little dipshit), but my God I didn’t like him at all. Am I the only one who didn’t like this kid?
Walking Tall the remake is an okay/decent action vehicle for its star The Rock. It isn’t as good as the Joe Don Baker original or the Bo Svenson sequels, but it does have its moments. I just wish I knew why the moviemakers didn’t try to make a more “complete” movie as opposed to a star vehicle that moves at breakneck speed. There should have been more story, more stuff. I can’t wholly recommend the Walking Tall remake, but, hey, if you have less than ninety minutes to kill, you could do a lot worse than Walking Tall with The Rock.
See Walking Tall (2004) only if you have to.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: 6
Explosions: One big one.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A ferry, lots of walking, a mini-montage of pawn shops, payday loan places, and empty storefronts, drug buying, getting a ride from the town’s friendly sheriff, Chinese food for dinner, wood step fixing, a cooler full of beer and soda, a friendly football game among friends, male jock asshole bullshit, a knee shot and wicked clothesline, strippers, more drug dealing, underhanded casino workers, a full on casino security guard brawl, Taser to the back of the neck, off screen chest cutting, flower stealing, an attempted apology, a job offer, off screen drug use, almost shotgun hooey, 2 x 4 hooey, table breaking, serious arm breaking, window smashing, a public trial, gross chest scars, off screen sheriff’s election, car tail light breaking, a “taking down the town’s drug problem” montage. A truly uncomfortable but funny police pat down scene, a bit where a car is cut apart with a chainsaw, off screen sex, exploding truck, machine gun attack, bullet to the leg, potato peeler to the gut, pistol whipping, dueling shotguns, serious floor shooting, lamp to the head, a serious beating, a brutal final fight, axe attack, a vicious knife to the face, and thirteen minutes of end credits.
Kim Richards?: Almost.
Gratuitous: The Rock, “Midnight Rider,” The Rock walking, a mother that buys drugs in public while pushing a stroller, The Rock eating Chinese food, The Rock doing the whole “I’m a sergeant, I work for a living” thing, Johnny Knoxville, Johnny Knoxville living in a camper, Neal McDonough, the Red Hot Chili Peppers version of the Stevie Wonder song “Higher Ground” on the soundtrack, wood paneling, the “VIP” experience, The Rock fighting various people inside of a casino, montage of The Rock watching TV, an adult video store, The Rock getting the mail, The Rock using a big piece of wood to beat the crap out of people inside of a casino, The Rock saying “Walk tall,” The Rock wining an election we don’t get to see for some reason, The Rock eating a microwave cup of noodles and watching baseball on TV, a woman running around during a shootout wearing only a bra and jeans, a final brawl, homophobic jokes, and thirteen minutes of end credits.
Best lines: “You’re Chris Vaughn?,” “Welcome home, soldier,” “Did you ever smoke anybody?,” “Okay, it rained. Happy? No,” “Hello, pudding,” “When did that happen?,” “How is that for tough?,” “Maybe next time I won’t see you in the bleachers smoking weed,” “Welcome to my world,” “Hey, remember, nothing in here is free,” “You’re good, but I saw it,” “Special Forces? Well, I’ll take that,” “He’s gonna be fine, Michelle,” “Don’t they teach you any basic fighting shows in the army?,” “What the fuck are you talking about?,” “I’m here to press charges,” “An internal investigation?,” “I said I’m not gonna let this stand,” “Thanks for the jacket,” “I guess this changes our relationship a bit, doesn’t it?,” “You should not have come looking for trouble!,” “I need you to take me to drug school,” “What an idiot,” “I’ve gotta get a bigger bed,” “Who needs to step away from the vehicle now, Vaughn?,” “You stabbed me with a potato peeler?,” “You’re nothing,” and “You’re right, Jay. This does change our relationship. You’re under arrest,”
Rating: 6.0/10.0
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Things to Watch Out For
–Against the Clock: This appears to be some sort of weird beard low budget sci-fi thriller thing about CIA agents and trying to unravel a mystery of some sort. Andy Garcia is apparently in it, and the writer/director of the movie, Mark Polish, also acts in it (I’m not entirely sure if she’s the “star” of the movie or if he’s just in it). Based on the trailer, some of the movie looks slick and well made, while other parts look incredibly bizarre, especially the sequences with Garcia. Definitely worth a rental, just to see what the heck is going on with it.
–Countrycide: I saw this low budget slasher flick at two different film festivals, once in an actual movie theatre, and the movie is awesome. Yes, I have issues with some of it (at barely 70 minutes I think the movie still needs to be tightened further), but star Robin Hodge is excellent, and the killers are absolutely despicable, which is what you want for this kind of movie. If you’re a fan of low budget slasher flicks, Countrycide is something you’re definitely going to want to see. I know I want to see it again. From writer/director Brett Kelly.
–Aquaman: I missed this comic book movie when it was in theatres, which I’m still annoyed by. It made tons of money all over the world and breathed new life into the DC Comics movie universe (or whatever the hell they’re calling it now). The trailers looked insane. The movie likely won’t have the same visual punch on home video as it did in a movie theatre, but, heck, if it’s on DVD now there’s no reason for me not to check it out now. And on top of badass Jason Momoa kicking ass in the movie as the star, the great Dolph Lundgren is also in this. Dolph Lundgren! How awesome is that? How many of you did manage to see this in a movie theatre? Was it as visually spectacular as I suspect it was?
–The Street Fighter Collection: This 3-disc Blu-ray comes to us from the fine folks at Shout! Factory as part of the company’s Shout Select line. The Street Fighter is, of course, the first of three movies that martial arts badass Sonny Chiba made back in 1974, along with Return of the Street Fighter and The Street Fighter’s Last Revenge. The set includes multiple special features and, most cool of all, multiple versions of each movie. The El Rey Network ran these movies every so often not that long ago, although I’m not sure what sort of home video life these movies had on either DVD or VHS back in the day. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out if this set is the best any of the movies have ever looked. And, hey, the fine folks at Arrow Video recently put the spin-off Sister Street Fighter movies in a big honking set, so there’s your double buy right there.
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Do you like Cult TV?
The 1985 action show Street Hawk is the column’s current focus! See what I said about the first episode here!!
And check out what I said about the entire run of Kolchak: The Night Stalker!
Issue #1
Issue #2
Issue #3
Issue #4
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B-Movie News
–Avengement has a trailer!: Avengement is the new movie from director Jesse V. Johnson and star Scott Adkins, which is set to hit select theaters and Video On Demand starting May 24th. Adkins plays a guy who gets furloughed from prison and decides to take revenge on the scumbags in his old neighborhood who made him into a criminal. The movie looks bloody, nasty, and all sorts of badass. Starring alongside Adkins will be his The Debt Collector co-star Louis Mandylor, and we all know how awesome The Debt Collector was. Samuel Goldwyn Films is releasing Avengement.
It’s simply amazing to me that Johnson and Adkins, kicking ass and taking names right now in the all-star action epic Triple Threat, which is now on Video On Demand (check out my review of Triple Threat here), also have Avengement coming out this year. It’s insane. Check out the trailer for Avengement below, and then make sure you mark May 24th down on your calendars.
Oh, and Adkins also has another movie coming out soon, Abduction, where he fights aliens or some shit with fellow action star Andy On. Roger Corman is the flick’s executive producer, and the great Ernie Barbarash is the director. Can’t wait to see this, too.
–New Dolph Lundgren flick Dead Trigger set to debut this May 3rd: Dead Trigger, based on a video game of some sort, has Dolph Lundgren killing zombies in some sort of post-apocalyptic future. Now, Dolph has taken on zombies before, in Battle of the Damned, but Dead Trigger looks very different from that movie. I mean, I’m assuming that Dead Trigger doesn’t have killer robots in it, too. Now, based on what I’ve read on imdb, this movie has been kicking around for like two years but hasn’t been seen outside of, I guess, film festivals or whatever. I do remember hearing about the movie a few years ago (and, hell, I may have written a bit for B-movie news on it), but I totally forgot about it until I saw a story about the movie’s release on Bloody Disgusting. Isiah Washington is in the movie, too, for some reason.
Well, even if it does turn out to be a dud, I still want to check it out. Anyone out there see Dead Trigger anywhere? And, heck, has anyone out there played the video game the movie is based on? Anyone at all?
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Check out my Widow’s Point set visit report!
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Who is the Douchebag of the Week? Go here and find out!
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Next Issue: The Billy Jack marathon begins with 1967’s The Born Losers!
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Interviews
david j. moore
Jino Kang
Vladimir Kulich
Paul Mormando
Michael Matteo Rossi
Tyrone Magnus
Hector Barron
Jeffrey Orgill
Michael Baumgarten
R. Marcos Taylor
Don “The Dragon” Wilson
Paul Kyriazi
Eric Jacobus
Juju Chan
Luke LaFontaine
Marco Siedlemann
Sam Firstenberg
Amariah Olson
Alexander Nevsky
Mathias Hues
Kristanna Loken
Steve Mitchell
Albert Pyun
Brad Thornton
Mathieu Ratthe
Damien Power
Kelsey Carlisle
Mike Dwyer
Nicholas Bushman
Brahim Achabbakhe
Etcetera
Richard LeMay
Andrew David Barker
Cynthia Rothrock
Leslie Simpson
C. Courtney Joyner
Eric Miller
Alexander Nevsky (2)
Christopher Lawrence Chapman
James Mark
Casper Van Dien
Chris Mark
James E. Wilson
Barry Hunt
Vincent J. Roth
Mathew Ziff
Brandon Tyler Russell
Barry Hunt (2)
Lobsang Tenzin
Dylan Reynolds
Paul Kyriazi(2)
Lincoln Bevers
Nassasin Nuri
Hannah Janssen
Harry Mok
Daniel Roebuck
Sage Croft
Stephen van Vuuren
Cheryl Wheeler Sanders
Eric Jacobus (2)
David William No
Nicholas Verdi
Luke LaFontaine (2)
Roger Yuan
Dominik Starck
Tamas Nadas
Tyler Savage
Robert McGinley
Tim Gouran
Billy Ray Brewton
Leo Scherman
Harley Di Nardo
Jino Kang(2)
Alexander Nevsky (3)
Steve Latshaw
Rick Hurst
Douglas Burke
Jeff Farley
Fred “The Hammer” Williamson
Nico Sentner
Everett Ray Aponte
Max Martini
Tom Huckabee
Jason Kellerman
David Tarleton
Roxy Shih
Jesse V. Johnson
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Well, I think that’ll be about it for now. Don’t forget to sign up with disqus if you want to comment on this article and any other 411 article. You know you want to, so just go do it.
B-movies rule. Always remember that.
Walking Tall (2004)
The Rock– Chris Vaughn
Johnny Knoxville– Ray Templeton
Neal McDonough– Jay Hamilton
Ashley Scott– Deni
John Beasley– Chris Vaughn, Sr.
Barbara Tarbuck– Connie Vaughn
Kristen Wilson– Michelle Vaughn
Khleo Thomas– Pete Vaughn
Michael Bowen– Sheriff Stan Watkins
Directed by Kevin Bray
Screenplay by David Klass, Channing Gibson, David Levien, and Brian Koppelman, based on an earlier screenplay by Mort Briskin
Distributed by MGM, MGM Home Entertainment, and MVD
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence, sexual content, drug material, and language
Runtime– 86 minutes
