History of Violence (2005)

Directed by David Cronenberg; produced by Chris Bender and J. C. Spink

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) has a good life with his wife and children in a small Indiana town. He is well liked and his diner is popular. One night, though, two murderous robbers invade his business and threaten his staff. Tom, with no choice, kills them both. Following the ensuing publicity, he is visited by a thoroughly unsavoury man named Fogarty (Ed Harris), who opens up a chapter of Tom’s past he tried to forget, and threatens the future that Tom hopes to have.

In February, 2023, on this blog, I reviewed Eastern Promises (2007), a crime-thriller directed by Cronenberg and starring Mortensen, and thought highly of it. Two years before that film’s production, the pair collaborated on History of Violence, a more thoughtful, though bloodier story. As the title implies, death and mayhem figure prominently but they have a point and are not included just for the sensation of it.

The story, adapted from a comic book, allegedly did not meet with Mortensen’s approval when first submitted to him. Largely re-written by Cronenberg, it became less about the violence and more about what the violence does to people. There are several episodes of brutality and killing, but each introduces an element of a character’s personality, or changes it in some way. Rather than a tale of events, it becomes one of cause and effect.

The script itself does not provide much in the way of memorable dialogue, but it doesn’t try: it provides ordinary conversations about ordinary things. It does, however, create interesting and thought-provoking situations. A good sub-plot involves Tom’s son Jack (Ashton Holmes) being bullied at school. That situation demonstrates that, contrary to the old adage, violence really does solve some problems. It almost always, however, creates new ones, problems which are sometimes worse, or at least harder to solve, than the original.

The characters are well-written. Tom Stall is an mundane man. In his previous life, he was also an mundane - though criminal - man. In both phases, though, he comes up against extraordinary conditions, and these are what determines the direction of his character. His aforementioned son is an atypical movie teen, humorous, caring toward his parents and decent. This made his sub-plot involving.

While the actions of the characters share the spotlight with the characters themselves, it is the actors that make or break History of Violence. Mortensen is excellently cast. He manages to make Tom Stall both ordinary and unusual, and successfully conveys the impression of a man who is violent but doesn’t want to be. Maria Bello plays his devoted wife who suddenly discovers she isn’t sure who it is she’s devoted to. Holmes is a thoroughly believable young player, while Harris delivers a chilling portrayal of a man who would be most likeable, if he weren’t a sadistic killer. Note should be taken of the almost amusing interpretation by William Hurt of a mob-boss, the main characteristic of whom is exasperation that things are not working out for him. Filmed in Canada, the smaller roles are filled by Canadian actors, most notably veteran Stephen McHattie, as one of the robbers.

Though not for all tastes, History of Violence is not a bloody free-for-all, but, rather, a study of how physical destruction, even if it helps a situation, is nonetheless corrosive and hurtful.