Adapted from the Vertigo Comics graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke the film follows Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) – a small town family man and restaurant owner who’s past comes back to haunt him. Tom becomes an American hero after killing two violent thieves that attempt to rob his restraint and kill his staff. Not long after the incident gangster Carl Fogaty (Ed Harris, right) comes to town convinced Tom is a professional killer that he knows as Joey Cusack.

Violence spreads like a fire through the lives of Tom’s family. Following his heroic act Tom’s teenage son hospitalises the school bully, he and wife Edie’s (Maria Bello) sex life mutates from a mutual loving a sensual act as seen in an early scene to a savage a brutal relief of tension and anger.

Lord of the Rings Mortensen (right) effectively shows the internal turmoil of his transformation from loving husband and father to violent killer. The violence seen in the coffee shop scene acts not only as a path for Tom’s old enemies to follow but also for his own buried character to slowly claw its way to the surface.

Bello (left) is also on top form as a woman trying desperately to keep her family safe and together while she watches in horror as her husband descends deeper into darkness becoming an unrecognisable force of nature.


VERDICT
If you’re looking for an all action guns blazing action film on a Friday night then stay away from this. Cronenberg’s slow burning pace gives A History of Violence a constant feeling of tension which is only ever broken by horrific and savage bloodshed. This film will not be for everyone but if your looking for an intelligent insight into the human relationship with violence this film is what your looking for.