A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Released: September 23, 2005
Whenever I hear David Cronenberg linked with a major Hollywood studio, I always get the feeling the director takes extra care to be especially subversive, to take just a little effort to be creepier or racier. "A History Of Violence", from Time Warner's New Line Cinema division, is no different. As the title suggests, there is ample amounts of violence on display here. And not sugar-coated violence either - we're talkin' holes in heads and copious amounts of blood with extra brain matter and shattered faces. Viggo Mortensen plays a father and store owner in a small town. Things change when he single-handedly takes down some bad guys in his cafe. It just gets more violent from here. Brutality is not chosen by Mortensen's character, it's his only option to protect himself, his family and his small town way of life. The supporting players, including Maria Bello, Ed Harris, Ashton Holmes, Heidi Hayes and Ed Harris all turn in great, yet subtle, performances. William Hurt appears in a brief-ish cameo, providing the film's only comic relief, if a brutish thug hell-bent on murder can be considered funny. Yet in a Cronenberg film, we take our laughs where we can get them. The violence is brutal but the backbone of the story is a father with a troubled past seeking redemption. I have issues with how Cronenberg ends his movies, often in an abrupt John Carpenter style, but in this film it seems to fit well, leaving the audience to formulate their own views on the violence we all carry with us, unleashed if we are pushed too far.
96 Minutes
New Line Cinema/Warner Bros.