A History of Violence
directed by David Cronenberg
screenplay by Josh Olson
based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke

        David Cronenberg has made so many movies about duplicity that I’m surprised he hasn’t yet been recruited for the current superhero trend. Perhaps he can direct a Batman Begins sequel where the villain is Two-face, or I hear that Ant-Man is currently in need. At least now the Canadian filmmaker is on the right track with A History of Violence, his most commercial film yet and one based on a graphic novel, which is only half a step above comic books.
        If you’re like me and never cared much for his films, you should be surprised at how enjoyable this new one is. Some have compared it to David Lynch and the Coen brothers, and I doubt that I will concur more with other critics this year. Not that I never associate Cronenberg with Lynch. Usually I consider them the two most overrated filmmakers working today. They both also deliver weird, inaccessible movies, though the confusion felt while watching Lynch often leads to an absorbing curiosity whereas Cronenberg’s strangeness is more creepy and uncomfortable. The Coens are typically too amusing to compare. Maybe I laughed during Naked Lunch, but only because it caught me so off guard.
          The prologue for A History of Violence introduces two homicidal drifters that could easily continue their journey into the world of Mulholland Dr. or Raising Arizona if they weren’t to meet their demise in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana, home of Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) and his wholesome midwestern family (Maria Bello; Ashton Holmes; Heidi Hayes). It is Stall who kills them while defending his diner from being held up, his quick, skilled actions so intrinsic that you might wonder if he’s an amnesiac super-soldier. His background becomes more of a mystery after his heroics receive national attention and a few gangsters (including Ed Harris) arrive claiming that he is Joey Cusack, an associate of theirs who went missing twenty years prior.
           It doesn’t matter if Stall is Cusack or a super-soldier or a secret agent. What matters is how capable he is of committing the severity, even in self-defense. The prologue sets up just how evil the two drifters are to ensure the necessity of Stall’s terminal response, and what transpires with the relentless mobsters is further argument for desperate measures. While some might see political undertones or even the commonplace of yet another vengeance piece for this wrathful decade, the movie is far more timeless and it brings up far too many ideas to be disrespectfully pinpointed that way. Combining the marital deception of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the identity crisis of Batman Begins and the survival compulsion of War of the Worlds, A History of Violence is the best non-summer action movie and makes the transition from blockbuster season to Oscar time (not that I believe this to be award-worthy) a smooth passage.

          If there were a statue for casting, though, this would be a shoo-in. Mortensen is perfectly believable as the innocent, rural patriarch or the alleged professional as is Bello taken equally for painfully ordinary or exceptionally sexy. And as the son, Holmes is the perfect median between geek and heartthrob, the type that gets picked on but still has a cute girlfriend. Plus, who would have known that William Hurt could be such a hilarious badass in the mob boss role? His performance is so exciting that, even though it’s almost out of place within the tone of the film (his is the most Coen-esque of all), I’m willing to finally forgive him for Lost in Space, among other duds of his last twenty years.
        Loyal Cronenberg fans may find the movie less cult-worthy for their tastes but could probably do with something above ground for a change. After Spider, I’d have settled for something as quirky as eXistenZ, myself. Instead Cronenberg was given a bigger budget than normal and still kept things interesting. So far every indie filmmaker turned superhero director has been made a disappointment, obviously giving into too much bureaucratic decisions. Yes, even Christopher Nolan. After seeing A History of Violence, I await Cronenberg’s eventual attempt as long as he sticks to this new style that works so well.

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