admin @ Tue, 2005-10-11 11:23
David Cronenberg is a master moviemaker whom you either worship or detest. He can make immensely complex and bizarre movies, just like he can make straight-forward movies, and both types will leave you mesmerized, both will make you think you just got slapped in the back of the head and you keep wondering what you did to deserve it.
I was weary about yet another movie based on a graphic novel, because so far, the graphic novel-based movie craze hasn't impressed me. But this is Cronenberg we're talking about here, the same guy who took a B-movie from the '50s and turned it into one of the most gut-wrenching stories ever told in the sci-fi genre.
A History of Violence is one of the films that falls into the straightforward category. There's no vaginal gaming consoles or beetle typewriters. It's actually the type of story that could happen. But no Cronenberg movie would be complete without the sound of blood gurgling from inside the fubar head of some poor slob who just bought the farm…brutally. We get treated to smashed faces, blood and guts and plenty of psychosexuality. It has kids seriously kicking ass and even taking a 12-gauge to the bad guy's chest, a beaten wife, monumentally perfect acting by all the actors, classic cinematography by Cronenberg, such as fall scenery, low sun light levels, and such ordinary décor you'd think they made no effort to make it look real; long awkward moments of silence; honest sex scenes that make you feel like an accidental voyeur, like you shouldn't be seeing this intimacy.
The whole movie has this cadence that is sinfully well paced. Nothing ever feels rushed. This kind of quietness makes you want to scream but you can't because you are to busy feasting on the story Cronenberg is feeding you. It takes much more than 5 minutes to get to the story's trigger moment. He builds it up slowly, presents the characters without rushing it.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that Hollywood has this obligatory standard that the flag must be shown within the first 5 to 10 minutes at all costs, because this Canuck director wouldn't have bothered with such a contrivance. But yet, when Tom gets into the car and hugs his wife, he holds up the mail in his hand perfectly decked out like he's holding his hand at poker, so that every stamp with the “sacrosanct” stars and stripes on it perfectly visible. This practice of propagandizing is getting so annoying that my friends and I are holding bets as to where, when and how it'll be shown. It's that predictable. And to sidetrack into political land for a second, having a pin with the flag, or stamps and so forth does not a patriot make, it only displays the sheepish need to hop on the bandwagon with the rest. Political rant over.
So back to the review. The story, like I said earlier, isn't confoundingly complex. Tom Stall has the perfect life, the perfect wife and the typical all American kids. He owns and operates a greasy spoon in this small town. One day some psycho and his man-bitch come in and all hell breaks lose and it ends with Tom expertly whacking them like it's a career saving the staff and customers. He immediately becomes the local hero cheered by all from the town and the media.
But Tom sheepishly tries to avoid all media contact. Is it humility? Is he shy? Soon enough we find out why when Carl Fogarty – played brilliantly by the presence that is Ed Harris – shows up looking for Tom in his diner and calling him Joey. Carl thinks Tom is Joey, the little fucker who took barbed-wire to his face years before. This case of mistaken identity explodes into what is the calmest, most serene ending such a violence based movie could possibly have. I'll say no more, and I think I've already said too much. But I'm just all wrapped up by the perfection that is A History of Violence.
The cast is loaded with heavies, the kind that Cronenberg just loves, Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, William Hurt and Maria Bello, who can really hold her own with such a strong cast. Even Ashton Holmes, who plays Tom's son, is really a strong character that adds plenty to the movie. As said earlier, the cinematography is perfect. The soundtrack is lush and never a distraction. The ending is rather unexpected without being a being a big twist and I gotta say, "Mmmm...meatloaf."
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