Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Maria Bello (left) as 'Edie Stall' with husband 'Tom Stall' (Viggo Mortensen) in 'A History of Violence'. - CONTRIBUTED
AS THE credits roll on A History of Violence, it becomes clear that something essential was missing from the flick, which stopped it from being the masterpiece it seemed to have the promise to become. That promise of greatness is maintained through-out most of the film until it actually ends, and there is no great moment of catharsis, of fulfilment, of enjoyment.
It will either leave you loving it for its visceral dose of violence, or profoundly confused as to what just hit you. A History of Violence is directed by David Cronenberg and is based on a graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke.
In the flick Viggo Mortensen sheds his royal raiment from The Lord of the Rings, or the cowboy boots of Hidalgo, to tackle the role of Tom Stall, a man with a past (and though all men have pasts his seems shady enough for comment). His life with wife Edie (Maria Bello) and two children Sarah (Heidi Hayes) and Jack (Ashton Holmes) in a small town is about to be turned on its head when Tom becomes a local hero and gains too much popularity.
At its outset, A History of Violence seems about to follow in the bold footsteps of the fantastically fun The Long Kiss Goodnight, starring Gena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. But soon it becomes clear that this flick is intent upon making its own path and the audience is left with several chin stroking and head scratching moments as one wonders where this movie intends to go.
MIND-NUMBING ACTION
Alas, by the end of the film, it becomes evident that the answer is ... nowhere. A History of Violence is sadly lacking in an engaging plot or even mind-numbing action to ease the burden of the story's absence. More importantly, the movie is devoid of characters, either heroic or villainous, that one can care about. While a silent brooding character can be quite engaging and fun, that is not what Mortenson brings. He is silent. He seems to be brooding. But, alas, he is quite uninteresting.
The movie never bothers to explain or even hint at why he is the man he is, why he has done what he has done, or even who he is. In the long run, one cannot really care about either him or his history of violence.
However, there is nothing historical about the violence in this flick, which is quite in the here and now. The film is speckled by moments of extreme, well-executed, extremely graphic violence that are admittedly great for guilty pleasure. These moments are always shocking, as the rest of the movie is so sedate and quiet, supposedly to reflect the peaceful nature of the small town, that the extreme violence is indeed shocking.
Yet, the film has a good cast including Ed Harris (Carl Fogerty) and William Hurt (Richie Cusack), who deliver the calibre of performances one would expect from them - but one does not care about their characters either.
It comes with the violence but it leaves behind either the fun or the psychological drama and suspense that would have made such violence something more than shocking. For pure shock value one only needs to turn to the evening news; movies are supposed to bring something more. At the end of A History of Violence, one gets the sense that it was either a waste of time or somehow the point snuck by when you were not looking.
