Half-Assed Movie Reviews

September 6, 2009:  A History of Violence

A History of Violence (2005) was the first of a one-two punch along with Eastern Promises (2007), which brought David Cronenberg back into the spotlight and redefined him as a commercially viable director whose films provide rich roles for actors.  As sort of a Canadian version of David Lynch, with a history of directing deeply strange and at times impenetrable films such as Dead Ringers (1988) and Crash (1996) [not the Oscar-winning racial tension film, but rather, the much-maligned car-crash-fetish film], Cronenberg had been mired on the artistic sidelines for three decades as a quirky auteur.  It is noteworthy that these two recent entries were not written by Cronenberg, perhaps signalling the shrinking bank account of a serious artist who is also a competent director who can bring life to more conventional narratives.

In A History of Violence, Viggo Mortensen plays Tom, a small-town restaurant owner who heroically saves himself and his customers when some thugs try to rob his store.  Media attention on this small-town news story of the day plasters Tom’s face all over TV screens everywhere, and pretty soon a couple of scary gentlemen show up claiming that Tom isn’t who he says he is.  They insist that he’s a mobster who ran away and hid after killing one of their friends.  Does this make any sense?  Is Tom really who he says he is?  Can his wife come to terms with the truth, whatever it may be?

I’m really glad that Viggo Mortensen got to be the star he has become.  He languished for years in small roles but always had a charisma which suggested something greater.  From his small but pivotal leadership role in Crimson Tide (1995) to his sideline love-interest parts in A Perfect Murder (1998) and A Walk on the Moon (1999), it was clear that he had wide acting range and star potential.  It was great to see, then, that he came to be a cornerstone in the epic Lord of the Rings films (2001-2003), bringing him the recognition he deserved, and he has remained grounded and diverse, culminating in an Oscar nomination for Eastern Promises.  Also in A History of Violence, we have Tom’s wife Edie played by Maria Bello, about whom I have raved before in my review of The Cooler.  Ed Harris plays slimy here just as capably as he played fierce leadership in Apollo 13 (1995) or nervous self-doubt in Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), although as I think about it now, I realize that it’s hard to come up with a role where he has played an everyday good guy.  William Hurt shows up in a small part as Tom’s brother, which I originally felt was played a little too cartoonishly, but that feeling was tempered quite a bit on a second viewing.

It’s funny that I should make that observation, though, since A History of Violence is adapted from a graphic novel.  I’m not familiar with the source material, but that may explain some of the broad strokes painted in the film and the exaggerated behaviours.  Mind you, I say that with reverence – this is a great film and one which I don’t wish to suggest goes over-the-top in any way other than as a deliberate stylistic choice.  We have a gripping story and an empathetic main character.  It’s more violent than I remember from my initial viewing, with a lot of gunshots and gore, but then again, I haven’t really sat down and watched the film properly since my initial viewing – indeed, this most recent viewing was partly in the background as I was doing other things, which certainly won’t shock the regular Half-Assed Movie Reviews reader.

I have only one real reservation about this film, and it’s a spoiler and not particularly relevant if we take it as given that movies have to take a little artistic license in order to move their stories along.  A History of Violence provides violent but rewarding entertainment from another side of David Cronenberg.

Tightly paced and intense crime drama.