A History of Violence (2005)
The Cast
Viggo Mortensen .... Tom Stall
Maria Bello .... Edie Stall
Ed Harris .... Carl Fogarty
William Hurt .... Richie Cusack
Ashton Holmes .... Jack Stall
Heidi Hayes .... Sarah Stall
Peter MacNeill .... Sheriff Sam Carney
Stephen McHattie .... Leland Jones
Greg Bryk .... William Orser
Directed by David Cronenberg and a screenplay written by Josh Olson based on the graphic novel written by John Wagner and Vince Locke, A History of Violence explores the lives of a small town family when the past sins of the father come back to haunt them. It's a tension filled drama that builds itself up in a slow burning fashion, threatening to explode at any moment. Featuring an excellent cast and an Oscar-nominated performance by William Hurt, it's a haunting film that you won't soon forget.
Tom Stall (Mortensen) is a well-respected owner of a diner in a small Indiana town, content in his small town life with his loving wife Edie (Bello) and his kids Jack (Holmes) and Sarah (Hayes). Late one night, two travelling serial killers (McHattie and Bryk) enter his diner with intentions of robbing him, not to mention killing every person in the place. With the looming threat of death to both him and his customers, Tom acts in a clipped and brutal fashion, killing the two vicious men in short order to protect the lives of those around him. When the media airs the story, a few menacing figures enter the picture calling Tom "Joey Cusack" and asking him to come back to Philadelphia, leading to much questioning about Tom Stall's past.
This isn't a movie for everyone, especially those that like all the holes from the past filled up with flashback sequences and unneccessary exposition. If you want your movies to not give you enough credit to figure things out for yourself, to not use your imagination a little, you'll probably dislike this movie a lot. Characters are introduced after events, with no previous indication of their existence, no reason for their being. The same thing with the two serial killers that are responsible for the events that snowball Tom Stall's crimes of the past into his present. There's no explanation for why they do what they do, it's just something that is, and that's life. I probably went on about that for too long, in a semi-redundant fashion, but a lot of people will have problems with that aspect of the movie.
For a movie with Violence in it's title, you might go in expecting a kung-fu, swords flying, explosive type movie. Again, not what this movie is about. The violence that takes place throughout the movie is short and to the point. No wasted energy, almost clinical in it's precision, which makes it far more brutal-looking and realer than your usual cartoony-action-violence-overkill films. The same can't be said about the sex scenes though. They're emotional, dirty and real, which could turn off a more prudish viewer or just take a hardened vet by surprise. Everything about this movie feels real, intense, raw and emotional.
All that and barely a mention about the cast, my bad. Mortenson is excellent throughout the film, meek and mild at first, giving no clues as to what he's capable of, then transitioning into a completely different feel for the second half of the movie and making it believable. Ed Harris is truly menacing as the voice of Tom Stall's past, a mobster from Philadelphia wanting to bring Stall back to face the music for the crimes he may or may not have committed. William Hurt was pretty good in his 12-minute performance, though I don't know how / why he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. It was good, but Oscar-worthy? Ashton Holmes hit all the right notes with his performance, dealing with living in his father's looming shadow and the violence that seems to lurk within him.
It's a simplistically beautiful film, one that hits hard with phantom punches, leaving you with questions and ideas about what you've just witnessed. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but I can also see the flaws that others have problems with. It's not a perfect film, but it's damn close.
4.5 / 5