I became convinced after watching Joe Swanberg‘s Alexander The Last that star Jess Weixler would be a near-perfect choice to play the Susan George part in Rod Lurie‘s reimagjned remake of Straw Dogs. Weixler puts out waves of soulfulness and emotional connectivity in Swanberg’s film, and I have an idea that she’d deliver something deeper and more layered (in a whole-hearted feminine sense) than what George and director Sam Peckinpah came up with for the 1971 original.

As long as we’re on the subject, are there any ideas as to who else could handle George’s part with a little something extra? And who, for that matter, could step into the Hoffman role? Keep in mind the international marquee factor.

Lurie’s Straw Dogs is taking place in the south, by the way, and not rural England. I for one admire his bravery in plunging ahead with it. He knows that a certain sector is going to trash him for daring to fuck with a Peckinpah classic no matter how his version may turn out. If you’re going to be a director, as John Ford once told Nunnally Johnson, you have to be a bit of an S.O.B. But you also need the courage of your convictions.