Produced by and starring Margot Robbie, Barbie (read our review Here) isn’t only the biggest movie to come out in 2023, having earned having earned more than $1.3 billion at the box office, but it also happens to be Warner Bros’ all time highest-grossing global release. While that Robbie project rakes in the dough, American Horror Story casting director Eric Dawson, who casts the long-running FX anthology series with his partners Robert J. Ulrich and Carol Kritzer at Ulrich/Dawson/Kritzer Casting, has revealed that Robbie audition for the second season of the series more than a decade ago.
Running for thirteen episodes from October 2012 to January 2013, the second season of American Horror Story was called Asylum. Starring Zachary Quinto, Joseph Fiennes, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Lizzie Brocheré, James Cromwell, and Jessica Lange, it took place in 1964 and followed the stories of the staff and inmates who occupy the fictional mental institution Briarcliff Manor,...
Running for thirteen episodes from October 2012 to January 2013, the second season of American Horror Story was called Asylum. Starring Zachary Quinto, Joseph Fiennes, Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Lizzie Brocheré, James Cromwell, and Jessica Lange, it took place in 1964 and followed the stories of the staff and inmates who occupy the fictional mental institution Briarcliff Manor,...
- 9/1/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Actor Peter Hansen, who played Lee Baldwin on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital,” died Sunday, his family announced. He was 95. Born in Oakland, California, in 1921, Hansen pursued acting at the Pasadena Playhouse before signing with Paramount Studios, appearing in films such as 1950’s “Branded” with Alan Ladd, “When Worlds Collide” and 1952’s “The Savage” with Charlton Heston. Hansen also appeared on numerous television shows including “Sea Hunt,” “The Lone Ranger” and “Perry Mason,” but was perhaps best known for his portrayal of Baldwin on “General Hospital,” a role he played on and off for decades. Also Read: Barbara Tarbuck,...
- 4/11/2017
- by Tim Kenneally
- The Wrap
Barbara Tarbuck, best known for playing Lady Jane Jacks on General Hospital for over 14 years, has died. She was 74.
The longtime actress died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease on Monday at her Los Angeles home, her daughter, producer Jennifer Lane Connolly, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Tarbuck began acting at the age of 9, where she performed as a regular on the children’s series Storyland, which aired on the Am Radio Station Wwj in Detroit, Michigan. She recently appeared on the FX hit series American Horror Story: Asylum for five episodes during the second season, playing Jessica Lange‘s Mother Superior Claudia.
The longtime actress died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease on Monday at her Los Angeles home, her daughter, producer Jennifer Lane Connolly, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Tarbuck began acting at the age of 9, where she performed as a regular on the children’s series Storyland, which aired on the Am Radio Station Wwj in Detroit, Michigan. She recently appeared on the FX hit series American Horror Story: Asylum for five episodes during the second season, playing Jessica Lange‘s Mother Superior Claudia.
- 12/30/2016
- by brittanyking22
- PEOPLE.com
“General Hospital” star Barbara Tarbuck has passed away at the age of 74. Tarbuck died in her Los Angeles home on Monday, the actress’s agent told TheWrap. The actress held a recurring role on the ABC daytime soap opera for more than a decade. She played Lady Jane Jacks, an Australian billionaire and the loving and loyal mother to Ingo Rademacher’s Jasper and Sebastian Roché’s Jerry, between 1996 and 2010. Also Read: Tyler Christopher Exits 'General Hospital' After 10 Years Tarbuck more recently appeared in five episode of “American Horror Story: Asylum,” the second season of Ryan Murphy’s FX horror anthology,...
- 12/30/2016
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
People are begging for an end to 2016, but 2016 keeps on taking great entertainers. Related: Kate Winslet Pays Tribute To Late Friend Alan Rickman American-born “American Horror Story” actress Barbara Tarbuck died in her home on Monday of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, her daughter told The Hollywood Reporter. “General Hospital” fans may remember Tarbuck as Lady Jane Jacks, a […]...
- 12/30/2016
- by Shakiel Mahjouri
- ET Canada
Barbara Tarbuck, an actress who played Lady Jane Jacks on General Hospital and Mother Superior Claudia on American Horror Story: Asylum among scores of film and TV credits spanning four decades, has died. She was 74. Tarbuck died Monday at her home in Los Angeles. Tarbuck began guesting on TV series in the late 1970s, appearing on such popular shows as The Waltons, The Incredible Hulk, Charlie’s Angels, Little House on the Prairie and Dallas. She continued to work mostly…...
- 12/30/2016
- Deadline TV
Barbara Tarbuck, an actress who played Lady Jane Jacks on General Hospital and Mother Superior Claudia on American Horror Story: Asylum among scores of film and TV credits spanning four decades, has died. She was 74. Tarbuck died Monday at her home in Los Angeles. Tarbuck began guesting on TV series in the late 1970s, appearing on such popular shows as The Waltons, The Incredible Hulk, Charlie’s Angels, Little House on the Prairie and Dallas. She continued to work mostly…...
- 12/30/2016
- Deadline
Barbara Tarbuck, the busy actress who played Lady Jane Jacks on General Hospital for more than a decade and recently appeared on American Horror Story, has died. She was 74.
Tarbuck died Monday at her home in Los Angeles of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, her daughter, Jennifer Lane Connolly, told The Hollywood Reporter. Connolly is a producer on the recent documentary A Classy Broad, about the pioneering Hollywood producer Marcia Nasatir.
Tarbuck portrayed Ingo Rademacher's (Jax Jacks) mother on ABC's General Hospital from 1996 until 2010, and on Ryan Murphy's FX series American Horror Story: Asylum, she was Jessica Lange's compassionate Mother...
Tarbuck died Monday at her home in Los Angeles of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, her daughter, Jennifer Lane Connolly, told The Hollywood Reporter. Connolly is a producer on the recent documentary A Classy Broad, about the pioneering Hollywood producer Marcia Nasatir.
Tarbuck portrayed Ingo Rademacher's (Jax Jacks) mother on ABC's General Hospital from 1996 until 2010, and on Ryan Murphy's FX series American Horror Story: Asylum, she was Jessica Lange's compassionate Mother...
- 12/28/2016
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
I had the chance to talk to Naomi Grossman and Barbara Tarbuck during an extremely spooky sleepover at the abandoned (and supposedly haunted) Linda Vista Hospital in Los Angeles as part of a kickoff for the DVD release of "American Horror Story: Asylum." Needless to say, we were probably all a little unnerved by the setting. While "Ahs" was shot on sound stages and not at the abandoned hospital, the location definitely provided a vibe befitting the second season of the series. Dark, dreary and dirty, the hospital was abandoned in 1991, though rooms (and probably a lot of the patient files left behind) date back...
- 10/10/2013
- by Liane Bonin Starr
- Hitfix
Last year Fox Home Entertainment held an event at Hollywood Forever Cemetery to celebrate "American Horror Story" Season 1 on Blu-ray that included a murder tour across Los Angeles, a visit to the signature house from the series, and talks by psychics and talent from the show.
So what could they possible do to top that for the home video release of "American Horror Story: Asylum?" Simple: Have us all committed.
For one night, the abandoned and notoriously haunted Linda Vista Hospital was turned into Briarcliff Manor – home to the criminally insane and a select few lucky fans and press. Visitors arrived in the hospital lobby, where they were greeted by the Mother Superior and forced to sign their lives away. Food and booze were served while familiar Asylum tunes “Dominique” and “The Name Game” were appropriately played over a loudspeaker.
Several drinks later, we were ushered into the chapel, where...
So what could they possible do to top that for the home video release of "American Horror Story: Asylum?" Simple: Have us all committed.
For one night, the abandoned and notoriously haunted Linda Vista Hospital was turned into Briarcliff Manor – home to the criminally insane and a select few lucky fans and press. Visitors arrived in the hospital lobby, where they were greeted by the Mother Superior and forced to sign their lives away. Food and booze were served while familiar Asylum tunes “Dominique” and “The Name Game” were appropriately played over a loudspeaker.
Several drinks later, we were ushered into the chapel, where...
- 10/10/2013
- by Sirand
- DreadCentral.com
Walking Tall
Opens
Friday, April 2
This might not be your father's Buford Pusser, but the remake of "Walking Tall" remains the tale of a vigilante with a badge -- and a very big stick. As a man of few words who takes on the forces of pure evil in his rural hometown, WWE star-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a self-possessed, charismatic screen presence. Drawing on his fans and tapping into hero hunger, the film should find solid footing at the boxoffice.
Like the 1973 Joe Don Baker starrer -- a hit that spawned two sequels, a telefilm and a short-lived series -- this version is inspired by the true story of Tennessee sheriff Pusser. But here the central character, unmarried and ultra-buff, is not an unlikely savior. To the well-chosen strains of Gregg Allman's "Midnight Rider", we first see Chris Vaughn as a solitary figure on a ferry to Washington state, returning home after eight years in the Army Special Forces.
It's a relief that "Walking" strips Mort Briskin's original screenplay of its cloying family-man angle and tragic elements. That helps to lessen the self-righteousness of an uneasy, if popular, combination of moralizing and head-slamming. But that combustible mix is still the heart of the story.
Paying tribute to the central character's weapon of choice -- a hunk of wood -- the story has been moved to lumber country (Vancouver subs for Kipsat County, Wash.). Expecting to work in the town's mill, like his Father John Beasley), Chris finds it's been shuttered by Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough, whose ice-blue eyes spell "villain"). After inheriting the plant, the town's lifeblood, Jay has turned his entrepreneurial efforts to a lucrative casino, the front for an even more lucrative drug operation. Emblematic of the Wild Cherry's grip on the town, Chris High' school girlfriend, Deni (Ashley Scott), dances in a peep show at the sensory-overload venue.
For Chris, the casino is an assault on small-town integrity. Ever-vigilant to corruption and wrongdoing, he crosses the powers that be and winds up sliced and left for dead by Jay's goons. Denied legal recourse by the sheriff (Michael Bowen), who considers the casino a "no-fly zone," Chris puts a huge stick of cedar to use in the name of justice and ends up in jail. After baring his impressive torso and its gruesome scars for a jury, he's elected sheriff.
He deputizes his pal Ray (Johnny Knoxville of "Jackass"), a recovering addict, to help him crack Jay's speed-manufacturing business. Adding drugs to the corrosive stew of gambling and prostitution, the adaptation ups the ante on moral certainty with broad strokes: Chris' young teen nephew (Khleo Thomas) has an unspecified medical emergency relating to the ingestion of crystal meth, and Chris and Ray are wholesomely abusive cops as they set out to rid their town of vice.
This lean retelling mercifully compresses the physical attacks on the hero and his family, albeit into unbelievably brazen simultaneous ambushes on the precinct and the Vaughn home. As the senior Vaughn, Beasley makes an impression as a former soldier who must overcome his aversion to guns to protect his wife (Barbara Tarbuck) and single-mom daughter (Kristen Wilson).
Director Kevin Bray keeps the action tight and brutal, from the first casino brawl to the final face-off between Jay and Chris (hatchet vs. tree branch). The cast acquits itself well, with the Rock evincing a quiet balance between humor and brawn. Unlike Baker's Pusser, Chris is not a conflicted man, and the pared-down action loses some of its dramatic tension because there's no doubt that the Rock will prevail -- driving home the point is a low-angle shot of the jeans-clad sheriff, wooden club in hand.
Production designer Brent Thomas and costume designer Gersha Phillips achieve a lived-in look that never calls attention to itself. Glen MacPherson's camerawork captures the setting's natural riches and economic straits, while well-chosen '70s rock tunes help propel the proceedings.
WALKING TALL
MGM Pictures
A Hyde Park Entertainment/Mandeville Films production in association with Burke/Samples/Foster Prods. and WWE Films
Credits:
Director: Kevin Bray
Screenwriters: David Klass, Channing Gibson, David Levien, Brian Koppelman
Based on a screenplay by: Mort Briskin
Producers: Jim Burke, Lucas Foster, Paul Schiff, Ashok Amritraj, David Hoberman
Executive producers: Keith Samples, Vince McMahon
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Brent Thomas
Music: Graeme Revell
Co-producer: Bill Bannerman
Costume designer: Gersha Phillips
Editors: George Bowers, Robert Ivison
Cast:
Chris Vaughn: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Ray Templeton: Johnny Knoxville
Jay Hamilton: Neal McDonough
Michelle Vaughn: Kristen Wilson
Deni: Ashley Scott
Pete Vaughn: Khleo Thomas
Chris Vaughn Sr.: John Beasley
Connie Vaughn: Barbara Tarbuck
Sheriff Stan Watkins: Michael Bowen
Booth: Kevin Durand
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Friday, April 2
This might not be your father's Buford Pusser, but the remake of "Walking Tall" remains the tale of a vigilante with a badge -- and a very big stick. As a man of few words who takes on the forces of pure evil in his rural hometown, WWE star-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a self-possessed, charismatic screen presence. Drawing on his fans and tapping into hero hunger, the film should find solid footing at the boxoffice.
Like the 1973 Joe Don Baker starrer -- a hit that spawned two sequels, a telefilm and a short-lived series -- this version is inspired by the true story of Tennessee sheriff Pusser. But here the central character, unmarried and ultra-buff, is not an unlikely savior. To the well-chosen strains of Gregg Allman's "Midnight Rider", we first see Chris Vaughn as a solitary figure on a ferry to Washington state, returning home after eight years in the Army Special Forces.
It's a relief that "Walking" strips Mort Briskin's original screenplay of its cloying family-man angle and tragic elements. That helps to lessen the self-righteousness of an uneasy, if popular, combination of moralizing and head-slamming. But that combustible mix is still the heart of the story.
Paying tribute to the central character's weapon of choice -- a hunk of wood -- the story has been moved to lumber country (Vancouver subs for Kipsat County, Wash.). Expecting to work in the town's mill, like his Father John Beasley), Chris finds it's been shuttered by Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough, whose ice-blue eyes spell "villain"). After inheriting the plant, the town's lifeblood, Jay has turned his entrepreneurial efforts to a lucrative casino, the front for an even more lucrative drug operation. Emblematic of the Wild Cherry's grip on the town, Chris High' school girlfriend, Deni (Ashley Scott), dances in a peep show at the sensory-overload venue.
For Chris, the casino is an assault on small-town integrity. Ever-vigilant to corruption and wrongdoing, he crosses the powers that be and winds up sliced and left for dead by Jay's goons. Denied legal recourse by the sheriff (Michael Bowen), who considers the casino a "no-fly zone," Chris puts a huge stick of cedar to use in the name of justice and ends up in jail. After baring his impressive torso and its gruesome scars for a jury, he's elected sheriff.
He deputizes his pal Ray (Johnny Knoxville of "Jackass"), a recovering addict, to help him crack Jay's speed-manufacturing business. Adding drugs to the corrosive stew of gambling and prostitution, the adaptation ups the ante on moral certainty with broad strokes: Chris' young teen nephew (Khleo Thomas) has an unspecified medical emergency relating to the ingestion of crystal meth, and Chris and Ray are wholesomely abusive cops as they set out to rid their town of vice.
This lean retelling mercifully compresses the physical attacks on the hero and his family, albeit into unbelievably brazen simultaneous ambushes on the precinct and the Vaughn home. As the senior Vaughn, Beasley makes an impression as a former soldier who must overcome his aversion to guns to protect his wife (Barbara Tarbuck) and single-mom daughter (Kristen Wilson).
Director Kevin Bray keeps the action tight and brutal, from the first casino brawl to the final face-off between Jay and Chris (hatchet vs. tree branch). The cast acquits itself well, with the Rock evincing a quiet balance between humor and brawn. Unlike Baker's Pusser, Chris is not a conflicted man, and the pared-down action loses some of its dramatic tension because there's no doubt that the Rock will prevail -- driving home the point is a low-angle shot of the jeans-clad sheriff, wooden club in hand.
Production designer Brent Thomas and costume designer Gersha Phillips achieve a lived-in look that never calls attention to itself. Glen MacPherson's camerawork captures the setting's natural riches and economic straits, while well-chosen '70s rock tunes help propel the proceedings.
WALKING TALL
MGM Pictures
A Hyde Park Entertainment/Mandeville Films production in association with Burke/Samples/Foster Prods. and WWE Films
Credits:
Director: Kevin Bray
Screenwriters: David Klass, Channing Gibson, David Levien, Brian Koppelman
Based on a screenplay by: Mort Briskin
Producers: Jim Burke, Lucas Foster, Paul Schiff, Ashok Amritraj, David Hoberman
Executive producers: Keith Samples, Vince McMahon
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Brent Thomas
Music: Graeme Revell
Co-producer: Bill Bannerman
Costume designer: Gersha Phillips
Editors: George Bowers, Robert Ivison
Cast:
Chris Vaughn: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Ray Templeton: Johnny Knoxville
Jay Hamilton: Neal McDonough
Michelle Vaughn: Kristen Wilson
Deni: Ashley Scott
Pete Vaughn: Khleo Thomas
Chris Vaughn Sr.: John Beasley
Connie Vaughn: Barbara Tarbuck
Sheriff Stan Watkins: Michael Bowen
Booth: Kevin Durand
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 7/9/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Walking Tall
Opens
Friday, April 2
This might not be your father's Buford Pusser, but the remake of "Walking Tall" remains the tale of a vigilante with a badge -- and a very big stick. As a man of few words who takes on the forces of pure evil in his rural hometown, WWE star-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a self-possessed, charismatic screen presence. Drawing on his fans and tapping into hero hunger, the film should find solid footing at the boxoffice.
Like the 1973 Joe Don Baker starrer -- a hit that spawned two sequels, a telefilm and a short-lived series -- this version is inspired by the true story of Tennessee sheriff Pusser. But here the central character, unmarried and ultra-buff, is not an unlikely savior. To the well-chosen strains of Gregg Allman's "Midnight Rider", we first see Chris Vaughn as a solitary figure on a ferry to Washington state, returning home after eight years in the Army Special Forces.
It's a relief that "Walking" strips Mort Briskin's original screenplay of its cloying family-man angle and tragic elements. That helps to lessen the self-righteousness of an uneasy, if popular, combination of moralizing and head-slamming. But that combustible mix is still the heart of the story.
Paying tribute to the central character's weapon of choice -- a hunk of wood -- the story has been moved to lumber country (Vancouver subs for Kipsat County, Wash.). Expecting to work in the town's mill, like his Father John Beasley), Chris finds it's been shuttered by Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough, whose ice-blue eyes spell "villain"). After inheriting the plant, the town's lifeblood, Jay has turned his entrepreneurial efforts to a lucrative casino, the front for an even more lucrative drug operation. Emblematic of the Wild Cherry's grip on the town, Chris High' school girlfriend, Deni (Ashley Scott), dances in a peep show at the sensory-overload venue.
For Chris, the casino is an assault on small-town integrity. Ever-vigilant to corruption and wrongdoing, he crosses the powers that be and winds up sliced and left for dead by Jay's goons. Denied legal recourse by the sheriff (Michael Bowen), who considers the casino a "no-fly zone," Chris puts a huge stick of cedar to use in the name of justice and ends up in jail. After baring his impressive torso and its gruesome scars for a jury, he's elected sheriff.
He deputizes his pal Ray (Johnny Knoxville of "Jackass"), a recovering addict, to help him crack Jay's speed-manufacturing business. Adding drugs to the corrosive stew of gambling and prostitution, the adaptation ups the ante on moral certainty with broad strokes: Chris' young teen nephew (Khleo Thomas) has an unspecified medical emergency relating to the ingestion of crystal meth, and Chris and Ray are wholesomely abusive cops as they set out to rid their town of vice.
This lean retelling mercifully compresses the physical attacks on the hero and his family, albeit into unbelievably brazen simultaneous ambushes on the precinct and the Vaughn home. As the senior Vaughn, Beasley makes an impression as a former soldier who must overcome his aversion to guns to protect his wife (Barbara Tarbuck) and single-mom daughter (Kristen Wilson).
Director Kevin Bray keeps the action tight and brutal, from the first casino brawl to the final face-off between Jay and Chris (hatchet vs. tree branch). The cast acquits itself well, with the Rock evincing a quiet balance between humor and brawn. Unlike Baker's Pusser, Chris is not a conflicted man, and the pared-down action loses some of its dramatic tension because there's no doubt that the Rock will prevail -- driving home the point is a low-angle shot of the jeans-clad sheriff, wooden club in hand.
Production designer Brent Thomas and costume designer Gersha Phillips achieve a lived-in look that never calls attention to itself. Glen MacPherson's camerawork captures the setting's natural riches and economic straits, while well-chosen '70s rock tunes help propel the proceedings.
WALKING TALL
MGM Pictures
A Hyde Park Entertainment/Mandeville Films production in association with Burke/Samples/Foster Prods. and WWE Films
Credits:
Director: Kevin Bray
Screenwriters: David Klass, Channing Gibson, David Levien, Brian Koppelman
Based on a screenplay by: Mort Briskin
Producers: Jim Burke, Lucas Foster, Paul Schiff, Ashok Amritraj, David Hoberman
Executive producers: Keith Samples, Vince McMahon
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Brent Thomas
Music: Graeme Revell
Co-producer: Bill Bannerman
Costume designer: Gersha Phillips
Editors: George Bowers, Robert Ivison
Cast:
Chris Vaughn: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Ray Templeton: Johnny Knoxville
Jay Hamilton: Neal McDonough
Michelle Vaughn: Kristen Wilson
Deni: Ashley Scott
Pete Vaughn: Khleo Thomas
Chris Vaughn Sr.: John Beasley
Connie Vaughn: Barbara Tarbuck
Sheriff Stan Watkins: Michael Bowen
Booth: Kevin Durand
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Friday, April 2
This might not be your father's Buford Pusser, but the remake of "Walking Tall" remains the tale of a vigilante with a badge -- and a very big stick. As a man of few words who takes on the forces of pure evil in his rural hometown, WWE star-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a self-possessed, charismatic screen presence. Drawing on his fans and tapping into hero hunger, the film should find solid footing at the boxoffice.
Like the 1973 Joe Don Baker starrer -- a hit that spawned two sequels, a telefilm and a short-lived series -- this version is inspired by the true story of Tennessee sheriff Pusser. But here the central character, unmarried and ultra-buff, is not an unlikely savior. To the well-chosen strains of Gregg Allman's "Midnight Rider", we first see Chris Vaughn as a solitary figure on a ferry to Washington state, returning home after eight years in the Army Special Forces.
It's a relief that "Walking" strips Mort Briskin's original screenplay of its cloying family-man angle and tragic elements. That helps to lessen the self-righteousness of an uneasy, if popular, combination of moralizing and head-slamming. But that combustible mix is still the heart of the story.
Paying tribute to the central character's weapon of choice -- a hunk of wood -- the story has been moved to lumber country (Vancouver subs for Kipsat County, Wash.). Expecting to work in the town's mill, like his Father John Beasley), Chris finds it's been shuttered by Jay Hamilton (Neal McDonough, whose ice-blue eyes spell "villain"). After inheriting the plant, the town's lifeblood, Jay has turned his entrepreneurial efforts to a lucrative casino, the front for an even more lucrative drug operation. Emblematic of the Wild Cherry's grip on the town, Chris High' school girlfriend, Deni (Ashley Scott), dances in a peep show at the sensory-overload venue.
For Chris, the casino is an assault on small-town integrity. Ever-vigilant to corruption and wrongdoing, he crosses the powers that be and winds up sliced and left for dead by Jay's goons. Denied legal recourse by the sheriff (Michael Bowen), who considers the casino a "no-fly zone," Chris puts a huge stick of cedar to use in the name of justice and ends up in jail. After baring his impressive torso and its gruesome scars for a jury, he's elected sheriff.
He deputizes his pal Ray (Johnny Knoxville of "Jackass"), a recovering addict, to help him crack Jay's speed-manufacturing business. Adding drugs to the corrosive stew of gambling and prostitution, the adaptation ups the ante on moral certainty with broad strokes: Chris' young teen nephew (Khleo Thomas) has an unspecified medical emergency relating to the ingestion of crystal meth, and Chris and Ray are wholesomely abusive cops as they set out to rid their town of vice.
This lean retelling mercifully compresses the physical attacks on the hero and his family, albeit into unbelievably brazen simultaneous ambushes on the precinct and the Vaughn home. As the senior Vaughn, Beasley makes an impression as a former soldier who must overcome his aversion to guns to protect his wife (Barbara Tarbuck) and single-mom daughter (Kristen Wilson).
Director Kevin Bray keeps the action tight and brutal, from the first casino brawl to the final face-off between Jay and Chris (hatchet vs. tree branch). The cast acquits itself well, with the Rock evincing a quiet balance between humor and brawn. Unlike Baker's Pusser, Chris is not a conflicted man, and the pared-down action loses some of its dramatic tension because there's no doubt that the Rock will prevail -- driving home the point is a low-angle shot of the jeans-clad sheriff, wooden club in hand.
Production designer Brent Thomas and costume designer Gersha Phillips achieve a lived-in look that never calls attention to itself. Glen MacPherson's camerawork captures the setting's natural riches and economic straits, while well-chosen '70s rock tunes help propel the proceedings.
WALKING TALL
MGM Pictures
A Hyde Park Entertainment/Mandeville Films production in association with Burke/Samples/Foster Prods. and WWE Films
Credits:
Director: Kevin Bray
Screenwriters: David Klass, Channing Gibson, David Levien, Brian Koppelman
Based on a screenplay by: Mort Briskin
Producers: Jim Burke, Lucas Foster, Paul Schiff, Ashok Amritraj, David Hoberman
Executive producers: Keith Samples, Vince McMahon
Director of photography: Glen MacPherson
Production designer: Brent Thomas
Music: Graeme Revell
Co-producer: Bill Bannerman
Costume designer: Gersha Phillips
Editors: George Bowers, Robert Ivison
Cast:
Chris Vaughn: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
Ray Templeton: Johnny Knoxville
Jay Hamilton: Neal McDonough
Michelle Vaughn: Kristen Wilson
Deni: Ashley Scott
Pete Vaughn: Khleo Thomas
Chris Vaughn Sr.: John Beasley
Connie Vaughn: Barbara Tarbuck
Sheriff Stan Watkins: Michael Bowen
Booth: Kevin Durand
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 3/29/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.