Here we are once again. I feel like I should get these posts to the At Odds with Wrestling podcast hosts early so they can do with them what they will. You will enjoy listening to the podcast, and being part of the homework assignments over on their Patreon page. Every week without a major wrestling pay per view they pick something from wrestling’s past to watch. This week continues the Wheel of Rock in which a random movie starring Dwayne Johnson is watched and commented on. This week we all watched Walking Tall. 

This isn’t a site for scene by scene breakdowns nor movie minutiae. This is about how well the Rock did as an actor, and whether the movie was worth the time. 

The Rock is the prodigal son returning from active military service. He hasn’t talked to his family a lot for the last 8 years, so there’s a bit of catching up to do. The Rock discovers that the mill closed and a casino opened. The town seems a bit dirty, a bit darker than it was before. His best friend Johnny Knoxville is here to add some light. I’m guessing this mill town only had one school so Rock and our main villain Hamilton go way back. Hamilton comes across as an asshole from the start, which is good for this type of movie. The Rock sees an old girlfriend stripping, the casino is shady, and when he tries to even the odds he gets beat up and left for dead. The Rock heals over an indefinite amount of time and then tears up the casino. This leads to a trial in which the Rock supports the townspeople behind him and is found not guilty. The Rock runs for sheriff and wins, off camera. Hamilton and his crew try to take down the Rock. They all end up dead and the Rock has not only cleared up all corruption in town but also reopened the mill. 

Now this is a great B movie. Direct to VHS or USA UP All Night quality. Tough lead, easy villain, pretty girl, lots of fighting. It follows the Road House map pretty well. The Rock does a great job at this level. There’s no demanding acting required. Speak little and carry a stick, literally. 

Sure the movie has holes when you really think about it. Rock’s sister is a paramedic yet does nothing to help him, or warn him of anything happening in the town. How long did it take the Rock to heal? How long was the trial? How long was the election for sheriff? These are things that take months at least yet the whole movie feels like a week. Also, you don’t build a casino with just the money in your pocket. So while Hamilton may be gone, he definitely borrowed money from someone who is going to come looking for the Rock. Is there enough money in the town now to open up a rehab clinic? Can the mill stay operational? A lot falls apart. But that is thinking beyond the 90 or so minutes of the movie. The movie is not here to answer questions from this town before of after what is shown on screen. It succeeds for those 90 some minutes and if there’s a movie novelization maybe some of the other questions are answered. Or, this is a remake and the original movie had sequels plus a TV show. And there were direct to DVD sequels of this movie that did not star the Rock. I’m trying to get through a lot of my stuff to watch and read, so I’m not looking to add the Walking Tall-verse to my to do list at this moment. 

My to do list includes my job, which does help people every day. I get that savior mentality, Rock. We all want to do some good in the world. We want to make things better. Add to instead of tearing down. As I look at my writing, my creating, bookshelves in the house full of untouched things and feel like there must be a way to do more and actually contribute to society in a positive way. Many of us that feel that way might volunteer, give to charities, be more involved in the community. Make little differences. But to take on an entire corrupt town single handed? You’re out of your mind, Rock. Take care of yourself, take care of your family, take care of a close group around you. Maybe Rock should have talked to his family more in the last 8 years. Where is his nephew’s father? Why doesn’t his dad want to touch a gun ever again? Some stuff happened Rock. You can beat up slot machines all day long but maybe beating up your sister’s ex would have done more good. Maybe your dad could have used some counseling. That would have been a good store front to open up instead of the X rated book store. 

The mill and casino are part of larger machines that one man can’t fight against. Red Lobster didn’t close down because of endless shrimp. It’s a complicated land ownership and giant collective company greed. Boeing whistle blowers die out of no where. Someone owned that casino (I think Hamilton, so how did the Rock get it to open back up?) Someone had money invested in that casino. You can walk as tall as you like but someone is going to sneak up on you because you cost them money. 

But, it’s all fiction (based on a true story). The point of this movie is escape. And I had a fun escape. In fact, I don’t think I paused this movie once to take a break. Which might be the first movie we’ve watched for homework that I can say that about. Here’s the thing about escape though. It means there is something we’re escaping from. Entertainment reacts to what we’re dealing with and I bet the original Walking Tall or this one is a great story of one man standing up to corruption. Pick any government or big business story from the 1970’s on where corruption was rampant and yet the perpetrators walked tall into a settlement that kept them out of jail. 

But it is nice to pretend one person can make a difference. Good on you, Rock.  I forgot about 24 hour news and the mess of the world for one evening.