In the opening scene of A History of Violence, we watch two men leave a motel room, get into their car, and prepare to check out. In the back of our minds, we can sense that there's something not quite right about the two of them, but the scene is paced so slowly that the languor becomes almost comic, and we're distracted from our own misgivings. That sets up one of the movie's major themes: How willing are we to ignore our own suspicions and fears in order to maintain our happiness, and (even more important) the happiness of those we love?
Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) lives an idyllic small-town life somewhere in middle America -- beautiful wife, two kids, successful business, loved by everyone in town -- which is abruptly thrown off track when a pair of thugs come in to rob his diner at closing time. Tom successfully fights them off, killing both, and is acclaimed by the town and the local press as a hero. He also draws the attention of Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris), who is convinced that Tom is really Joey Cusack, a one-time Philly gangster. Fogarty insists that Tom is lying; Tom insists that Fogarty is mistaken.
Mortensen's performance and the script (adapted by Josh Olson from a graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke) leave us guessing for quite some time before the question of Tom's true identity is finally resolved. But as we wonder, we're left to ponder another of the movie's themes, that of identity. Is it possible to simply abandon who one is and become an entirely different person? Tom's son, Jack (a solid performance by newcomer Ashton Holmes), faces that question as his father's heroism moves him to a new way of dealing with high-school bullies.
This is a marvelous movie here, with a note-perfect cast. In addition to Mortensen and Holmes, Harris is in top form; Maria Bello, who plays Tom's wife, is a strong contender for a supporting Oscar nomination. Most miraculous of all, Cronenberg gets a good performance out of that tired old has-been William Hurt, who pops up late in the movie for a single scene and does ten minutes that are sharper and funnier than anything he's done in fifteen years.
Those who are bothered by violence should know that the violence here is more realistic than in most Hollywood movies; those moments are brief, though. There's also a pair of realistic sex scenes that do what such scenes almost never do in the movies: tell us something about the characters and advance the plot. The sex and violence are anything but gratuitous here; they are central to the story, and they are judiciously used.
I could quibble about a few things. The final scene is so ambiguous as to be meaningless, and Jack's transformation, though emotionally plausible, isn't believable on a practical level, as he suddenly demonstrates skills he's shown no sign of having.
But those are small details. The story and the performances are riveting, and A History of Violence is highly recommended.
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