A History of Violence

Wow! I never imagined anyone could make an oral scene into a Norman Rockwell moment. David Cronenberg, you’re one heck of a director! Now that I have that out of my system, let me tell you the rest of the film. If you want to see a film noir with top notch acting and directing, you have to see A History of Violence. Actually you get several movies rolled into one. It has a tension filled Cape Fear drama, mixed with a slow rhythm and character development of Presumed Innocent, and then switches into Scarface-type bloodbath. While all the time keeping you interested in the main character of Tom Stalls (played by Viggo Mortensen).

You’ll probably be seeing a lot of the roles that Harrison Ford was getting now going to Viggo Mortensen. Watch how Mortensen transforms his character just by the tone of his voice and his facial expression from a Clark Kent to a vicious killer. He is definitely an “A list” actor and what makes this movie work.

Let me also applaud William Hurt’s cameo performance. Believe it or not, he makes a pretty good villain.

Favorite Line:

Yeah Joey, we don’t want to get you mad. We know what you can do.