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Dan Owen reviews

A History Of Violence

'Tom Stall Had The Perfect Life... Until He Became A Hero.'

Viewed at Odeon, Lincoln Wharf

Cert:
Running time: 96 minutes
Year: 2005
Released: 30th September 2005
Widescreen Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1

Director:

David Cronenberg

The Fly, Naked Lunch, Dead Ringers, eXistenZ, Crash, Videodrome, Scanners

Producers:

Kent Alterman, Chris Bender, Cale Boyter, Josh Braun, David Cronenberg, Toby Emmerich, Justis Greene, Roger Kass, J.C. Spink & Jake Weiner

Screenplay:

based on the graphic novel by John Wagner & Vince Locke

Cinematographer:

Peter Suschitzky

Howard Shore

The Lord Of The Rings

Cast:

Tom Stall: Viggo Mortensen
Edie Stall: Maria Bello
Carl Fogarty: Ed Harris
Richie Cusack: William Hurt
Jack Stall: Ashton Holmes
Sheriff Sam Carney: Peter MacNeill
Leland Jones: Stephen McHattie
William Orser: Greg Bryk
Sarah Stall: Heidi Hayes

David Cronenberg makes tough, adult, unusual movies.

A History Of Violence continues that trend, but has a more mainstream premise that should appeal to people outside of Cronenberg fandom and perhaps pull in some new fans.

Tom Stall (a sublime Viggo Mortensen) is a typical everyman living in smalltown America. He owns the local diner, is a father to level-headed son Jack and cute toddler Sarah, and loving husband to wife Edie. The Stall family are normal people living a normal existence... until Tom's diner is visited by two hitmen, and Stall becomes a local hero after swiftly dispatching the hoodlums single-handedly.

However, with Stall now reluctantly reaping the benefits of minor celebrity and respect amongst his peers, his diner is again visited by mobsters - this time headed by Carl Foggarty (a brilliant Ed Harris), who insists Tom is actually a Philadelphia gangster named Joey Cusack.

A History Of Violence is a slow-burning suspense thriller, slowly developing its plot to reel in the audience. Does Tom Stall have a secret identity? Well, to go much further will damage the movie's plot, but while the overall mystery is played very well, and the story does take some interesting turns... the overall punch of the movie is decidedly mixed.

The performance throughout are absolutely brilliant; Mortensen's damaged hero is excellently balanced, Harris' lizard-eyed mobster is his best work in years, Maria Bello's loyal wife provides some emotionally taught scenes, William Hurt's fantastic with a late-appearance as crimelord Richie, while Ashton Holmes is a real find as Tom's bullied son.

Cronenberg's movie clearly makes a number of statements on the effects of violence in society and how people view it and react to it. The townsfolk applaud Tom's vicious slaying of mobsters, while his son Jack takes his father's actions as subconscious approval to beat-up a local bully. In the early stages of the movie, A History Of Violence simply oozes class and style, with the ever-present promise of something better just around the corner.

However, by the end you realize the film didn't really take any unexpected diversions. The prospect of a radical twist or ground-shaking moment is always palpable, and while there are a few "key moments" guaranteed to keep audiences on tenterhooks (usually in the form of some gruesome death scenes), there isn't really anything massively unexpected... and the movie ends on an intriguing, yet unfulfilling, scene.

Overall, I really wanted to love A History Of Violence, but after a very strong first half, the movie simply plays itself out and doesn't redeem itself with a particularly strong finale. There are some memorable moments and an abundance of strong performances, expertly directed by Cronenberg, but A History Of Violence just lacked a killer bite I thought the great auteur could have supplied us.

DIRECTION PERFORMANCES PLOT SPECIAL FX SOUND/MUSIC
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.

E-mail Dan Owen

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