Walking Tall falls flat

Well, if you were planning on seeing Walking Tall because you are familiar with the true story upon which it is based -- that is, the Battle of Athens, Tenneessee -- then you are wasting your time and your money. It's not worth it for historical interest and it's certainly not worth it as a movie. It's not even worth a detailed trashing. Just don't go see it. I'll highlight the major points of suckage:

Not even a little historical accuracy.
It's all about... drugs!
The "election" takes place in 30 seconds, offscreen; the only reference to it is an offhand comment.
The mostly-invented plot sucks.
The action sucks.
The acting sucks.
Gratuitous comments about "chopping up" or "melting down" guns.

I guess they were far, far, far too nervous about making a movie that depicted corrupt elections (in America! This century!), warfare and guns used in a positive manner, and attacked authority figures based on their corrupt behavior... so they had to make it about drugs. Hollywood has a very bad ear for this sort of drama, and I can't say I'm surprised by the results.

Posted on 2004-04-11 23:43:39.0 by matthew@triggerfinger.org

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