Amazon.com video review:
Weirdly marketed as a right-wing screed upon its initial
release in 1973, Walking Tall is really a tragic, shockingly
violent post-noir film based on various legends surrounding
real-life Southern sheriff Buford Pusser. Joe Don Baker
(The Natural) gives
a powerful performance as Pusser, who took on determined forces of
crime and corruption in his town at great personal expense. Directed
with an intentionally crude force by Phil Karlson
(Kansas City
Confidential), one of the toughest filmmakers of the 1950s,
the film's grimness does not let up, but in the end it is more likely
to break hearts than turn stomachs. --Tom Keogh
