UrbanWire

Walking Tall is inspired by the true story of plank-wielding Buford Pusser. Pusser was the Sheriff of his Southern town in McNairy County, Tennessee in the 60s and the venerated figure was well known for ridding the town of gambling, prostitution and other illegal operations.

Director Kevin Bray has found World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s The Rock as the suitable mould for the retired U.S. Special Forces soldier Chris Vaughn in an updated version of the 3 earlier Buford Pusser-movies of the 70s.

While Vaughn spent 8 years overseas serving the army, his hometown of Ferguson, Washington, is gradually besieged with crime, drugs and violence. The old lumber mill that provided jobs and income for the town folk, is now closed and a nearby casino becomes the main attraction and economic relief for the town instead. And the face behind the change is Vaughn's rich high school rival, Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough).

In an altercation in the casino, Vaughn is slashed in the chest and left for dead by Hamilton's men. He's appalled that the law doesn't stand up against the town's rich kid. It also doesn't help that his younger brother Pete is hospitalised after taking drugs supplied by Hamilton's men. A man can only take that much (especially one whose life reads like a nightmare) so with a 2-by-4, he gives Hamilton's casino a new face-lift. And in an action sequence that seems to have taken a page from Wrestlemania XX, he takes out 6 men and countless slot machines and is just short from giving his trademark wrestling move, the People's Elbow.

In a strange twist of events, Vaughn is acquitted of all charges by a seemingly gullible jury (a scene that resembles a poorer version of To Kill a Mockingbird) and even avoids compensating the damages. On top of that, he manages to become the new Sheriff by ousting the corrupted one Stan Watkins (Michael Bowen) after a cheesy and less-than-inspiring speech to the town people.

With the help of his borderline-crazy new deputy, his old pal Ray Templeton (Johnny Knoxville), they begin to put a foot down on Hamilton's illegal drugs operation.

Taking the spotlight away from The Rock is the clever casting of Knoxville, the co-creator of MTV's Jackass, the crazy stunt show where people get hurt for laughs. From stabbing a crook with an orange peeler to manhandling a shotgun in the movie, Knoxville provides the comedy element in the typical goofy sidekick role. It actually seems that the quirky character of Templeton is made for him, and you can't go wrong there (ask Jack Nicholson in Something's Gotta Give).

However, the casting of model Ashley Scott (who was in Singapore recently to host the Elite Model International event) as Vaughn's ex-girlfriend Deni and disguising it as a romance subplot is a tasteless move to attract horny boys. How else would you explain her stripper role, being clad in leather-tight firemen suit and shooting bad guys on all fours in sexy red bra and jeans? Come to think of it, she only had 2 scenes where she kept her clothes on and those scenes lasted less than a few minutes.

Bray can be proud of a decent effort with this movie, as it's only his 2nd feature film after Ice Cube's All About the Benjamins. Walking Tall at a length of 87 minutes has the action sequences as its only reprieve. The director is guilty of squeezing as many scenes into the movie as possible and ends up with characters without depth. Even the hero Vaughn isn't given enough room to express his feelings of anger and injustice and instead is portrayed as a character resorting to physical violence and intimidation most of the time.

Nevertheless, while the answer to The Rock's acting abilities may not be answered in this one, Schwarzenegger better be worried as he's no longer the last action hero in town.