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Walking Tall
Coming to DVD on September 28, 2004
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Transcript of Neal's appearance on "The Sharon Osbourne Show" on April 8th.
Reviews of "Walking Tall".
More reviews of "Walking Tall".
Comments about Neal's performance as Jay Hamilton.
Transcript of Neal's interview with Lance Smith on CMT's "Top 20 Countdown".
From the Denver Post:
AS: OK, Rock, for all the punishment you took in "Walking Tall," what was most painful?
TR: Probably the end fight scene with myself and Neal McDonough. When you're in a fight like that, with an ax involved, and a big piece of wood involved, it was deep, down, dirty and on the grind. And at times, he was swinging a real ax but it was really dulled so in case it hits you, it wasn't going to chop off my limb. I had a ton of bruises, cuts all over the place. But the cuts didn't necessarily come from the ax. The cuts came from banging into the tree, the fall down the hill. Then there's a scene at the end, without giving the movie away, when he spits in my face. That's no camera trick. He had to spit on me about 15 different times.
Review of "Walking Tall":
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - 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.
Links to various film clips:
Behind-the-scenes featurette
Eight clips from the movie
From the Production Notes on the official site:
[In designing the film's climatic battle royale between Chris and his nemesis, Jay Hamilton, it was important to cast an actor who could conceivably stand up to The Rock's immense physicality and power. Surprisingly, that actor was Neal McDonough, better known as the nattily-dressed star of the television series Boomtown as well as the
futuristic cop in Minority Report.
"Neal's a tough son of a gun," says Habberstad. "We dropped him, we slammed him and he just took it and asked for more!"
McDonough, it seems, has a hidden athletic side. Not only is the actor in fantastic physical shape, but he was once a star pitcher for the Syracuse University baseball team. For director Bray, it was McDonough's acting prowess that made the difference in his ability to create an antagonist big enough to take on The Rock.
"Neal is super focused and always gives such amazing performances," says Bray. "The fights would not be what they are without Neal. He was the cheerleader, the coach, and everything else while we shot his fight with The Rock, and you could sense The Rock learning a few things from Neal as well."
For The Rock, fighting the film's final donnybrook with McDonough was indeed a match made in cinematic heaven. "Neal is an exceptional athlete, and his athleticism shows in our fight scenes," says The Rock. "I was really surprised, because a great athlete does not always make a great fighter. There's an X factor, a switch you turn on. Neal is one of those guys who has that switch."
For McDonough, the film's bruising finale was a challenge and a pleasure for an actor not used to enduring such raw tests of strength and timing. "It was really physical for me," says McDonough. "Falling fifty feet through a sawmill, beating each other with axes and wood - really raw stuff. It was so much fun! Rock's a muscular guy, to be sure, but I
am in pretty good shape; I box and play baseball all the time. But I haven't ever worked with an actor who works as hard as Rock does."]
Promotional schedule
(courtesy of the official Walking Tall site)
March 19-21
The Rock on MTV Movie Special
March 29
Neal McDonough on Craig Kilborn
March 30
The Rock and Johnny Knoxville on MTV's TRL
March 31
Johnny Knoxville on David Letterman
April 1
The Rock on Regis and Kelly
The Rock on David Letterman
April 2
The Rock on Conan O'Brien
The Rock on Bob Costas
April 4
The Rock on A&E Biography
The Rock as Grand Marshall at NASCAR
April 6
Johnny Knoxville on Conan O'Brian
The Rock on Craig Kilborn
Personal appearances by The Rock
March 15 - Philadelphia, PA
March 17 - Washington, DC/Baltimore
March 18 - Tampa
March 19 - Miami
March 22 - Boston
March 23 - Detroit
March 24 - Denver
March 25 - Phoenix
March 26 - Seattle
Benefit screening
of "Walking Tall"
Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson will appear at a benefit screening of his new film, "Walking Tall,"
on Tuesday, March 16, at Regal Cinemas' West Town Mall 9. Red-carpet arrivals
begin at 6:30 p.m., with a brief presentation at 7 and the movie screening
at 7:30.
The screening will raise funds for Variety - the Children's Charity of Eastern
Tennessee. Individual tickets are $50 and go on sale at 11 a.m. today at Regal
West Town.
Neal's
comments
on Walking Tall
It was a big cult classic in the '70s and they're remaking it now.
And the great thing about this movie - you know, now, movies are so much
about special effects and this one is really about a story - about a guy
who goes back to his home town and finds out that, what was this nice sleepy
town 15 years ago, has turned into this place with strip clubs and drugs
and that kind of thing. And I'm the bad guy.
The Rock on Walking Tall
The Rock: It’s a remake of a very popular film from the 70’s.
It’s a true story based on a guy by the name of Buford Pusser, a sheriff
in McNary County. This movie is inspired by that because I can’t play
or be Buford Pusser. Buford was in his 40’s and white, and I’ve got a
great make-up artist… Jeff Dawn, he won the Oscar for T2, he cannot make
me look like that. I play a man named Chris Vaughn, it’s a story about one
man’s refusal to lay down to corruption and take the law into his own hands,
literally. He takes a big stick and does justice the only way he knows
how to do it. It comes out in the spring. It’s really an inspiring story.
Nick Nunziata: And you square off against NEAL MCDONOUGH in
it, right?
The Rock: Yeah, NEAL'S a great actor. It was between
him and Sam Rockwell, who was up for that. NEAL is great to work with,
and again another guy who can raise my game. He is right on the money
and he has those piercing eyes.
Excerpt from an
interview
with Ryan Robbins, who will appear in the film "Walking Tall":
[HNR: How's Walking Tall going for you? Can you explain the character
you play, you are some sort of henchman/muscle guy for NEAL MCDONOUGH'S
character."
RR: I play Travis. He's pretty bad-ass. He's the "security" for
NEAL'S character, Jay Hamilton. I spend most of the film being tossed
around by the Rock. I'm not the biggest guy on this film by any means.
And Rock is a large man. But my character is that kind of wirey, intense
guy that keeps coming back for more. It's a lot of fun. Just imagine a
bunch of grown men being twelve again, beating each other up and having
a great time doing it. And I have to say, NEAL MCDONOUGH is such a great
guy to work with. He's a fantastic actor and a lot of fun to be around.
It's one of those jobs you really look forward to going to. There is a great
sense of fun on the set, especially between the actors. Rock has a great
sense of humour and there are always a lot of laughs... and singing...
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