A History of Violence

We start with images of two rather brutal hoodlums who have robbed and massacred the staff at a roadside motel and then sort of follow them into a town where "Tom" (Viggo Mortensen) runs the diner. They stop by one afternoon, intent on causing a bit of mayhem, only to discover that their host is a bit more capable of defending himself than they'd anticipated. Quickly "Tom" is lauded as an hero, and wife "Edie" (Maria Bello) and kids "Jack" (Ashton Holmes) and "Sarah" (Heidi Hayes) are proud to have their dad at home. What he hadn't anticipated, though, is that the publicity would attract the attention of one-eyed gangster "Fogarty" (Ed Harris) who arrives and starts calling him "Joey". Who's "Joey"? Well we quickly find out that nothing is as it seems and we gradually begin to realise that the past always has an habit of catching up with you. This is a violent film, but oddly enough I felt it rather visually tame as the pieces start to fall into place and the arrival of William Hurt signals an escalation that cleverly marries the comically menacing with the somewhat predictable conclusion. There's not a great deal of dialogue here, though not quite on the Clint Eastwood scale, and Mortensen holds it together increasingly well as we move along. It's one of the few films that I feel could have added half an hour or so, just so we get to grips a bit better with the characterisations and concomitant baggage, but as it is - it's well worth a look.

**_When a peaceable family man is backed against a wall_**

Shot in the late summer/early fall of 2004, this was described by director Cronenberg as “a meditation on the human body and its relationship to violence.” It comes in the tradition of “Straw Dogs,” addressing the same issues as “Billy Jack”; namely, absolute pacifism vs limited pacifism. The former never resorts to violence, even in the face of great evil, whereas the latter strives for peace, but turns to violence when justified. The New Testament supports limited pacifism not absolute pacifism, as some mistakenly think (see Luke 12:39, for instance).

Yet there’s more going on as the film explores overcoming a troubled past for a new identity while tapping into the primal self if necessary.

Viggo Mortensen is great here and he described it as “one of the best movies [he's] ever been in, if not the best.” Maria Bello is effective but lost what little curves she had and looks verging on anorexic. William Hurt shows up in the last act with a wink of amusement.

There are similarities to “Killshot” with Mickey Rourke, Thomas Jane and Diane Lane, which came out three years later. If you like one, you’ll probably like the other.

It runs 1 hour, 36 minutes, and was shot in the greater Toronto area with the town scenes done in Millbrook, which is an hour’s drive east of the city and a dozen miles inland from Lake Ontario.

GRADE: B