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Directed By
David Cronenberg
Written By:
Josh Olson, Josh Olson
Cast:
Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Maria Bello, William Hurt, Peter MacNeill, Stephen McHattie, Kyle Schmid, Gerry Quigley, Aidan Devine, Bill MacDonald, Ashton Holmes, Greg Bryk, Deborah Drakeford, Heidi Hayes
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A History of Violence (2005)
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Movie Review by Chris
September 11th, 2008
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In Millowbrook, Indiana, the mild Tom Stall owns a bar and has a calm life with his beloved wife Edie, his teen-aged son Jack, and his little daughter Sarah. His life turns upside-down when her kills two cold-blooded killers in his bar to protect his waitress, becoming a local hero and being shown in the front page of the local news and on TV. The next day, mobster Carl Fogarty comes to the town, calling him Joey Cusack and telling that he was a former hit man. When Carl and his men threaten his family, Tom defends them, and violence is released in a chain reaction.
A History of Violence, directed by David Cronenberg, is a simply amazing and unforgettable human story. Nominated for 2 Oscars, I now see the truth behind all the good talk about the movie. The thing I deeply enjoyed though is even though its very brutal and violent, is that it tells the story of a man who tries to change and hide his secret and buried past. So as the movie goes on and he meets these people he supposedly knows Tom is confronted with the ghosts of his past and must save himself and his family while trying to put the demon that was Joey back into the dark hole he's been kept in for half of his life.
A History of Violence features amazing performances by Viggo Mortenson, Mario Bello and Ed Harris. Viggo Mortenson plays as Tom Stall, but his performance as Tom/Joey is surprising and scary to watch. Tom Stall is the new guy, who has a wife, two kids and owns a diner in a small town. He is kind and helps anyone anyway he can, the perfect husband and a great father to his teenage son and younger daughter. Joey on the other hand is really good at killing people, and we see this when the two men try and rob the diner he owns. He knows how to fight and seems to be trained to kill men. I think the transformation between the two through the film is excellent and neither is shown as much attention as the other, but it has the perfect balance and this shows through Viggos actions.
Mario Bello plays as Edie Stall, Tom's wife and mother to his two kids. Mario is featured in two graphic and extremely realistic sex scenes in the movie. One where she dresses as a cheerleader and a kind of rape scene on the staircase, so we get to see a little bit of her throughout. She is the more emotionally challenged character in the movie and is always seen crying, but I mean her husband was a cold blooded killer before they met and her life is practically a lie so why wouldnt she be emotional. She is a great actress who simply pulls off everything she has to and I admired her. Ed Harris is the man responsible for bringing Joey back, playing as Carl Fogarty, who works for Tom/Joey's brother Richie. Carl tries as hard as possible to make Tom realize who he really is and his performance was excellent. The thing with Carl is that Joey actually kind of ripped his eye out with bardwire, so I am pretty sure he is a little bit pissed off.
Eastern Promises is the most recent movie directed by David Cronenberg and though I havent seen it yet, I am really looking forward to checking it out soon. A History of Violence is a brutal and graphic movie, but the difference between this and other films of its kind is that it doesnt concentrate on the violence through the entire thing. Most of the violence is quick and done in a semi realistic manner. When Carl and his crew come onto Tom's frontyard its like a massacre that Tom has caused, and its a very violent scene but the point of that 5 minutes is not to show the violence, but something else. Thats where David comes out stronger then other directors is that even though the violence is there and in plain sight, thats not the point of the moment.
A History of Violence is an amazing movie which continues to stun me hours I have watched the film. With Viggo's convincing performance and David's directing and method of storytelling, there is almost nothing wrong with this movie what so ever.
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