A History of Violence

A History of Violence is one of those ultimately frustrating films which leaves you with the sense that it could have been something really special but never quite managed to pull it off. There's a great story here, one brimming with potential. But the movie never fully lives up to the promise of its story. This is certainly not a bad film by any means but it's not a great one either and you get the feeling it should have been.

The story revolves around Tom Stall, as played by Viggo Mortensen. Tom is a small-town Indiana family man. He owns a local diner, has a beautiful wife (played wonderfully by Maria Bello) and a couple of kids. He leads a very ordinary, mundane kind of life. Then one day there is an attempted robbery at the diner and Tom saves the day, becoming a local celebrity and a very reluctant hero. The national media even picks up on the story...and that is where the problems begin. After Tom's face is splashed across national television someone shows up in this small Indiana town looking to settle an old score with one Tom Stall. Only this man does not believe Tom Stall is actually Tom Stall at all. This gangster, Carl Fogarty (played with an appropriate level of creepiness by Ed Harris), is certain that he knew Tom Stall as Joey back in Philadelphia. Seems Joey removed one of Fogarty's eyes and then disappeared. Suffice to say Fogarty is not real happy about it. As sure as Fogarty is of Tom Stall's true identity, Tom is just as insistent he is who he claims to be, a simple, ordinary, small-town Indiana family man. Where does the truth lie? The heart of the film is in finding out.

So there's the setup. Quite an intriguing one I must say. Mistaken identity? Hidden identity? Either way, with the presence of an obviously dangerous man like Carl Fogarty looming, there are certain to be some chills and thrills along the way. But the film never really takes off. It kind of limps along, with an occasional spasm of brilliance, but it never really works as well as it should. There are certainly some very good moments, but not enough of them to forgive all the lesser moments. And there are plenty of lesser, some would even say pointless, moments sprinkled throughout. It's a great story and the cast, Harris especially, does a great job with what they are given to work with. But in the end the cast, and ultimately the film, are let down by the material. The story's there, you know there's a great film in that story someplace. But that great film never materializes. It's a good film, but one which leaves you wanting more, with the sense it was one good rewrite away from being truly special.

Cronenberg's adaptation of a Wagner and Locke graphic novel places a simple American family man, and his all-American family, into a new and disturbing context which has them questioning everything they think they know. Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) owns a little diner in a small town and has a nice house on the outskirts of town, where he and his wife Edie (Maria Bello) raise their two kids apparently living the American dream in their own way. One day at the diner, two murderers pop by at closing time for some cherry pie, and Tom's heroic defense of his diner, his customers and himself sets off a series of events that threaten his family, his sanity and his life. The eerie tension never lets up in this powerful examination of identity, honesty and violence.

David Cronenberg has directed some of my favorite off-beat films - the masterpiece Naked Lunch, Scanners, Videodrome. I have watched these films many times and I still find them interesting. I can't really call myself a fan, however, because there are also just as many Cronenberg films out there which I found difficult to get through the first time (Crash, eXistenZ, Dead Ringers). Cronenberg enjoys creating disturbing situations and imagery, and wants to get under your skin and to stimulate your mind on as many levels as he can. In most cases, he pulls it off masterfully, but sometimes, his emphasis on the bizarre can come across as pretentious and forced.

Like a lot of very creative and intelligent people, Cronenberg sometimes leaves his signature virtually everywhere in his work. And sometimes, a director needs to make a film which does everything they want to accomplish but leaves off the signature. For example - the brilliant David Lynch showed us his ability to jump out of his own skin with Elephant Man and The Straight Story. These are still very much Lynch films, but they also appeal to the wider audience of mainstream cinema-goers. A History of Violence is, in some ways, Cronenberg's most straightforward film. A key to its success is that it is very easy to forget that you are watching a Cronenberg film, no matter how aware you are of Cronenberg's many quirks, idiosyncrasies and trademarks. It is so masterfully directed that, although the plot is not entirely unpredictable, you are right there in the action with the characters and feeling what they feel so that, though you may know what's next, you never exactly see it coming and you never know how it will take you there.

Viggo Mortensen, in his best mainstream role since Aragorn, and Maria Bello (one of the actors who made The Cooler worth watching), head an impressive cast in this adaptation of a Wagner and Locke graphic novel. Nobody in the cast slips up at all. The script is intense, realistic, and probably did nothing to make the performances easy. The plot, if described without the plot and the context created by the script, would seem somewhat absurd, but like Woody Allen's Match Point, it's absurdity does not make it impossible to believe. Editing, directing and pure performance combine to make flawless performances for this cast. Backed up by veterans Ed Harris and William Hurt, and very strongly supported by the excellent Maria Bello, Mortensen is shockingly excellent in a difficult role. I can't explain why without giving too much of the film away. Although the rest of the cast did exactly as they were supposed to, I want to single out Ashton Holmes - an actor I was completely unfamiliar with but who I will look out for in the future.

I recommend A History of Violence highly. It is one of my top five reasons for considering 2005 to have been a great year in North American film.

FIRST.... Let us FOCUS on the Title´s content and context!

There is a great deal in this film that is lurking just below the surface! A History of Violence is quite another kind of story altogether! A unique combination of action, drama, suspense, and crime coupled with a suspenseful, intriguing, most interesting, and, at times, even a highly original and touching story. Personally. I think Viggo Mortensen does a spectacular job here in the lead role of Tom Stall, a man who would just as soon have everyone forget completely his dark and violent past! Mortensen (Eastern Promises) is one of the most highly underrated actors working today. More Details and Opinions in just a bit...........

Worth mentioning that I have a personal motive for taking a special interest in his career Here is something I'll bet quite a few of you don't know about King Aragorn.... He is one actor of an extremely select group, who was born into the English language and whose native language is English, but who has managed to acquire a very near-native ability in a second language, Spanish, so much so that he has played convincingly a Native speaker of Spanish in a handful of Spanish language films! Check out his acting filmography here on IMDb!

Just how does this involve me? Well, although I don't appear in films, in any language, I did not speak Spanish until I was 16...and now, after living in Colombia for over a quarter of a century, I usually pass for a native speaker!

VIOLENCE has a lot of other worthwhile things working in its favor. Excellent story and screenplay, plenty of suspense, and mostly outstanding performances turned in by other members of the cast... Especially William Hurt's award winning role. From me...VIOLENCE gets 9 well-deserved Stars!

9*********.... ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

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Let's start by writing this is a film I have difficulty evaluating. You notice the great technical qualities but emotionally it leaves you conflicted. Which, considering this is a Cronenberg film, might just be what was intended. I've seen most of his films and "A history of violence" is probably the least weird and most "commercial" (a term used by the director himself). It's a psychological drama with of course certain sequences of violence. It would not qualify as an action flick because the fight scenes are quite quick (less than a minute mostly), realistic, harsh and not glamorized. They're rather shocking but somehow exhilarating (like an adrenaline rush) but linger just a bit to show the results and make you feel uncomfortable. In the end, it does make you think about violence, if it's something ingrained, how it affects people, if it can sometimes be justified and if it can be overcome.

Let's not forget a very interesting mystery aspect regarding the past of the main character played solidly and subtly by Viggo Mortensen. All the actors were quite convincing in their parts, the wife being suitably loving and tormented, the main gangsters being suitably menacing. They felt like real characters and I particularly liked the interactions between the wife and husband. Cronenberg is obviously a professional at his craft and shows it once again. It's cinema d'auteur as we would say in french but it's not boring or overtly intellectual. So if you're a Cronenberg fan, this is obviously a must-buy but expect it to be relatively more "tame" than his previous efforts. If you like smart character driven psychological dramas with a hint of mystery, it's a must see but I'm conflicted as to how re-watchable it is, making a purchase recommendation an uncertain thing. Fans of the Cohen brothers dramas/thrillers would probably like it also.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Watched again after many years. Had rated 6 then, have to stick with the same now. Always an interesting premise, this: man running away from his violent past, and it catching up with him in the present. There's a very popular Tamil film, Baasha which sprang up many such films in India after its great success. It had the same premise. Here again, it's the premise, the set up of his new life that keeps you interested in the first half of the film. The other part of the story, of the violent past - Ed Harris was really good, he kept it going till that scene, but dang, the final scenes, with Will Hurt, were a real downer for me. And the sex scene in the second half, watching it now, feels a bit dated.