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‘A History of Violence’: Don’t look away

David Cronenberg has made some pretty messed up movies (“Crash,” “Naked Lunch,”) and while “A History of Violence” is what some would consider his most mainstream fare since “The Fly,” the fact that what the audience sees occur on screen is fairly normal to American sensibilities is pretty messed up in itself. Studies have shown that many viewers of American television witness countless simulated murders in their lifetime, making them nonplussed when they see acts of imagined violence. Where ‘A History of Violence’ deviates from the norm is by giving the audience accurate glimpses of the effects of violence. To put it another way, this is no Jackie Chan film and definitely not a “Die Hard.” It is however a very well done piece of cinema from a master of direction.

Viggo Mortensen plays Tom Stall, a diner owner in Millbrook, Indiana. He has two swell kids, Jack, a high schooler, and Sarah, a cute as a button, elementary school student, and a knockout for a wife named Edie (Maria Bello). When two thugs stick up the diner one night and threaten to kill a waitress, Tom dispatches the thugs with a lethal efficiency that catches the eyes of some mobsters in Philadelphia. It seems Tom reminds them of a former mobster named Joey and soon they are harassing Tom and his family until they get satisfaction from their former friend.

Is Tom really Joey? I won’t spoil it for you but the beauty of the film is that it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is how violence changes the relationships around Tom. After the incident in the diner, Jack not only stands up to the high school bully but puts him in the hospital. The heart of the film though is the relationship between Tom and Edie. As more things happen to Tom and the family, Edie begins to re-evaluate what she knows about her husband and what she believes. There are two scenes in the movie that beautifully capture their changing dynamics and the fact that they are love scenes and that Cronenberg examines these the same way he examines the scenes of violence is fascinating. Sometimes Cronenberg will leave the camera stationary and allow the entire scene to soak in , while other times the camera will only offer the viewer a glimpse and allow their imagination to fill in more details.

For my money, Cronenberg has never been better. From the opening minute, he is firmly in control of this movie and the cast that surrounds him is excellent. Mortensen is perhaps the best leading man in Hollywood today, Bello is always a delight to watch and appearances from Ed Harris and William Hurt are also top-notch.

This is not a film that everybody will like, but there is plenty to talk about afterwards. I enjoyed this film a lot and hope to see it nominated in several Academy Award categories this year.

• ***