A History of Violence (2005)
When one of the waitresses working for Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is threatened, Tom kills her attackers and becomes a local celebrity. This attention brings Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) to town, convinced Tom is Joey Cusack, a former associate in the Irish Mob. The truth of Tom’s past threatens to destroy his family.
To his credit, Viggo Mortensen has used the success of the Lord of the Rings to focus on smaller films, more personal films.
Maria Bello who plays Tom’s wife, Edie, is a solid background performer but has yet to breakthrough to more mainstream success.
From Christof to Jackson Pollock to John McCain, Ed Harris is always dependable, including as a mob enforcer here.
William Hurt was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, but it feels like the nomination was given out of respect for his previous work. He’s underused and didn’t make a connection with me in his brief role as Richie Cusack.
David Cronenberg established a distinct visual style in a series of existential horror films in the 1980s including Videodrome (1983) and The Fly (1986). His later career has been less focused on disturbing visual effects, but the underlying themes are the same: existential angst and the overwhelming desire for identity and purpose.
This is a decent movie about a man trying to escape from the actions of his past, but doesn’t have anything fresh to say. Cronenberg’s earlier films were often messy, but at least they were interesting; this listless film doesn’t feel like it was made with a lot of passion, although I’m curious to read the original graphic novel.