by MATTHEW HAYS

Perhaps one of the most glaringly manipulative types of film must be the vigilante movie. There have been great ones (witness Joe or Dirty Harry) as well as utterly dreadful (Death Wish 5 stands out).

It's funny to behold a film like Walking Tall, the remake of the hugely popular based-on-a-true-story vigilante franchise of the '70s. Here, former wrestling champ The Rock plays the disgruntled-citizen-cum-sheriff, taking to the part with characteristic relish. After returning to his Southern home town after a distinguished military career, poor Rock-o finds the town mill has shut down and the town's economy is fuelled by a corrupt casino (which also fronts for a drug operation that sells crystal meth to minors).

It sounds mind-numbing, but thankfully, the crowd I saw the film with (at a Saturday preview screening) got it. There were howls and shrieks of laughter as The Rock would utter his ludicrous dialogue (after beating the living crap out of someone, he states, "You're under arrest."), and as the film ran down the Walking Tall checklist, there were hollers of recognition. This film operates as a ludicrous parody of itself (and every vigilante movie ever made). In particular, it pokes fun at the innate contradiction these films present: what should concerned citizens do when society descends into lawlessness? Why, take the law into their own hands, of course! It's a unique brand of Americana, with Walking Tall saying almost as much as Dogville does about the psyche of the most powerful nation on Earth. Notably, this film also boasts one of the most astonishingly ridiculous courtroom sequences ever projected on the screen.

But those laughs wane when you consider that many irony-challenged moviegoers will go to Walking Tall and take it at face value. Then the nasty, horrid reality of our culture sets in, and it ain't pretty. I laughed very hard at this one, but suffice it to say some dullards will attend and interpret it as a feature-length ad for the Republican Party and the Iraq War. I could almost hear the President saying, "I'm George W. Bush, and I endorsed this ad."

Walking Tall opens Friday, April 2

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