Walking Tall was first released in 1973, telling the story of the Tennessee lawman named Buford Pusser, who cleaned up corruption on the Tennessee-Mississippi state line. He paid a hefty price, his wife was killed in an ambush in 1967, and he himself died in a car accident in 1974, as he was returning from a press conference celebrating his fame.

Two more Walking Tall movies followed the first, Walking Tall Part 2 in 1975, and the inappropriately named Walking Tall: The Final Chapter in 1977. Pusser's fame spawned "Walking Tall" the T.V. series in 1981, and once again big Buf practiced law enforcement with the aid of a 4-foot club,

And now, over twenty years later, Pusser rides again, well sort of. The new Walking Tall is set near Seattle, Washington, the protagonist's name is Chris Vaughn and he's unmarried. So basically, the only similarity between this Walking Tall and Buford's hixploitation empire is that a big man carries an even bigger stick.

Let's call a spade a spade, this "remake" is just an opportunity for The Rock to show his action chops. There's no story here, just a retired soldier returning home to take up his old life. But as Thomas Wolfe told us, you can't go home again. The local industry has closed, a casino has opened, and the whole town is doing drugs. That is, until Chris Vaughn shows up. His old high school buddy owns the casino and invites him over for a little entertainment, which all goes horridly wrong. Vaughn calls a croupier crooked, which leads to a difference of opinion with security, and the end result is that Chris is badly injured and left for dead. But he doesn't die, and when he wakes up, he's not at all happy, and believes vengeance is his.

And, of course, Vaughn isn't only going to settle his own score, he plans to reverse the fortune of the entire town. From that point on, what the movie lacks in credibility it makes up for in violence, culminating in the ultimate showdown, just as cookie cutter as it can be. Sigh. There's even a pretty girl who can't wait to take of her clothes, initially because she's a stripper at the Casino, and then because she's overwhelmed by desire for The Rock. My guess is that conversation would have been too tricky for the screenwriters, so they cut very quickly to the sex scene knowing that everything will then be okay.

I like The Rock, and generally enjoy his brashness, especially since it seems to be essentially honest. In this film The Rock walks so tall he seems to lose touch with reality. The film is more absurd than the campest wrestling match, yet seems to take itself seriously. There are far too many significant looks passed between key characters and the fight scenes just make no sense at all. To suggest this movie is based on a true story‹as the poster proudly displays‹is laughable.

Try as I might, I cannot think of one good thing about this film, other than it is mercifully short. Walking Tall should be carefully stepped around.


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