Four Stars, Movie Reviews - Tuesday, October 14, 2008 1:50 - 5 Comments

Walker Payne (DVD)

Walker Payne was definitely one of the better independent films I’ve screened recently. However, due to the graphic nature and realism of several dog fighting scenes along with a number of racy sexual situations, it did not sit to well with many film distributors. After its debut release in 2006 at the Tribeca Film Festival, Walker Payne fell on deaf ears and remained unnoticed until its recent release this past August.

Before continuing on with this review, I would like to mention that I do not condone dog fighting of any kind. I think its entirely inhumane and cruel and as a owner of a pitbull terrier myself, I would never think of throwing him in a ring for the enjoyment of others or for the benefit of myself.

Continuing on, I wanted to mention that dog fighting was certainly not the focal point of this feature. At no point in this film did I ever think that they glorified the “sport” of dog fighting, and although it was just a movie, I’d be lying if I told you that some scenes weren’t hard to stomach. (my wife got up and left after the first dog fight) The fights are fairly long and drawn out, but it’s this reality and ugly side of human nature most people tend to dismiss out of ignorance or just plain insensitivity. I was actually glad someone had the courage to write a script based on it, and graphically show how it not only hurts the dog itself, but how it can damage human relationships directly as well.

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