Writer: David Klass
Director: Kevin Bray
Starring: The Rock, Johnny Knoxville
Rated: 15
Trailer: Quicktime, Various Sizes
Tagline: One man will stand up for what's right.

Another New YorkerÂ…

Walking Tall is ‘based on a true story’. It’s about Chris Vaughn, a man who returns from military service to his small town home only to discover that the town has been corrupted by someone he went to highschool with. Disappointed and angry, Vaughn runs for and is elected Sheriff, and goes after the corruption in the town, eliminating it.

Vaughn is played by The Rock. No, donÂ’t groan too soon. In The Mummy Returns, he was pretty pointless. The Scorpion King was alright, but nothing that special. IÂ’ve not seen The Rundown (or Welcome to the Jungle as they decided to call it here), but in Walking Tall, itÂ’s a different story to the previous efforts. The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson), fits the role pretty well. He fits the film pretty well.

His character is supposed to be a strong, upstanding, honourable man, and The Rock plays it very well. HeÂ’s not and never will be an Oscar winning actor (at least, I hope not), but thatÂ’s not what this film needed. It needed a big man who could tangle and get beat up, but could act well enough not to stink the film up. And thatÂ’s what they got. Johnny Knoxville plays VaughnÂ’s sidekick, a highschool friend turned deputy and Ashley Scott plays the hottie love-interest.

Kevin Bray, the director, hasnÂ’t really done much before, especially not as big as Walking Tall and itÂ’s not ridiculously evident, but you can tell heÂ’s not a veteran. Which is fair, because heÂ’s not. The fight scenes are handled very well. Vaughn doesnÂ’t use guns, he uses a 4x4 piece of cedar, and the fight scenes are crafted to be realistic. Well, not realistic, but they arenÂ’t totally over the top.

So, IÂ’d probably call this a good action film. ItÂ’s definitely not bad, and itÂ’s definitely not a classic, but if you are a fan of decent action based popcorn films, itÂ’s worth the price of admission.