Very much in the spirit of a modern-day STRAW DOGS, STRAIGHTHEADS is a lean and gritty thriller that cuts straight to the point with the speed of an arrow. It's a short film that smacks you across the face and leaves you reeling with the level of brutality and nihilism on offer. It's a film that came in under the radar, was pretty much panned by the critics, and disappeared again to line DVD rental shelves and appear on late night television. The latter is where I caught it, and I'm glad I did: I enjoyed this pared-down offering that, while being nothing new, is nevertheless engaging, often shocking fare.
The central casting is pretty unusual. Gillian Anderson takes the lead role, and fans across the globe automatically associate her with Agent Scully from THE X-FILES. In this film, she's a sexually-charged young British businesswoman who's about as far from the prim and proper Scully you can get. Anderson must deal with plenty of traumatic moment, and she's never less than excellent in the part. She also goes nude for the first time in her career, an aspect of this film which garnered more attention than perhaps it should have. She's backed up by Danny Dyer, an up-and-coming young Londoner who seems to be carving a career for himself in these dark, violent movies; I just saw him in SEVERANCE while at the same time catching the ads for OUTLAW amongst others. Dyer's a love-him-or-hate-him type of actor, and I think he's decent here – especially towards the film's climax.
Obviously, violence is the film's main tone and there's a ton of it. The initial rape/assault is as unpleasant as you'd imagine, and it's equalled by some nasty moments at the climax – including one use of a rifle that you wouldn't automatically think of. The script focuses on the unravelling of the central characters and follows their psychosis following the attack, and it's a lot darker than anything Hollywood would dare aim for. This is far from your typical revenge flick – here, Dyer and Anderson are truly hurting, and they show it – a lot. The last act might veer into the kind of predictability that comes from having watched the likes of DELIVERANCE and STRAW DOGS, but it's still well handled – complementing a film I didn't expect much of, but got a lot out of.
The central casting is pretty unusual. Gillian Anderson takes the lead role, and fans across the globe automatically associate her with Agent Scully from THE X-FILES. In this film, she's a sexually-charged young British businesswoman who's about as far from the prim and proper Scully you can get. Anderson must deal with plenty of traumatic moment, and she's never less than excellent in the part. She also goes nude for the first time in her career, an aspect of this film which garnered more attention than perhaps it should have. She's backed up by Danny Dyer, an up-and-coming young Londoner who seems to be carving a career for himself in these dark, violent movies; I just saw him in SEVERANCE while at the same time catching the ads for OUTLAW amongst others. Dyer's a love-him-or-hate-him type of actor, and I think he's decent here – especially towards the film's climax.
Obviously, violence is the film's main tone and there's a ton of it. The initial rape/assault is as unpleasant as you'd imagine, and it's equalled by some nasty moments at the climax – including one use of a rifle that you wouldn't automatically think of. The script focuses on the unravelling of the central characters and follows their psychosis following the attack, and it's a lot darker than anything Hollywood would dare aim for. This is far from your typical revenge flick – here, Dyer and Anderson are truly hurting, and they show it – a lot. The last act might veer into the kind of predictability that comes from having watched the likes of DELIVERANCE and STRAW DOGS, but it's still well handled – complementing a film I didn't expect much of, but got a lot out of.