David Cronenberg's \A History of Violence"" is one of few movies where each death is so vivid, it's nearly impossible to lose track of the body count. The villains in ""Violence"" refuse to die silently like those in most Hollywood films-instead, they writhe, shake, choke on their own blood and, in one scene, stare at their own grossly disfigured faces. Given the film's title, such violence is to be expected. What might not be expected, however, is that it is also one of the best films of the year.
The plot concerns Tom Stall (Viggo Mortenson), all-around good guy and inhabitant of Millford, a small town right out of a Rockwell painting-a place where everyone is on a first-name basis, gym class baseball games are treated like the World Series, and the sheriff makes house calls just to chat. One Saturday evening, Tom's son, Jack, watches his peers drive up and down Main Street for fun, prompting a friend to wonder aloud if things will ever get better. Maybe not. But as the film demonstrates, they can certainly get worse.
After a robbery at his diner goes awry, Tom kills two men in self-defense, but not before being stabbed in the foot. Emerging from the hospital hours later, he's applauded by a crowd and greeted at his house by a TV news crew, one of many to call him a ""local hero."" Unfortunately, his celebrity draws the attention of Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris), a one-eyed, East Coast gangster who claims to have known Tom as ""Joey Cousack,"" a hit-man. He suggests that Tom's not only a man with a past, but a man with an entire history of violence, in an encounter that sets the trajectory for the latter half of the film.
""Violence"" is at its best when examining the effect the killings have on the family. Prompted by his dad's heroism, Jack confronts the school bully who has been terrorizing him, to which Tom tells him, ""In this family, we do not solve our problems by hitting people.""
""That's right, we solve them by shooting them,"" counters Jack, recieving a slap from Tom. Realizing what he has done, Tom's face registers a quiet devastation, a testament to Mortenson's acting.
Consider further a scene in which Edie (Maria Bello) steps out of the bathroom and upon seeing Tom, quickly closes her robe. In her reaction, we realize that she is no longer standing naked before her husband, but a man who has killed-a man who, in many regards, is a stranger to her.
In the hands of Cronenberg, ""Violence"" manages to be both a highly-entertaining mystery/thriller and an acute meditation on society's acceptance of violence. Rich in subtext, the film explores the implications of doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, daring to suggest that a man who kills in self-defense is still a killer. After all, Tom Stall might have the moral high ground, but it's built upon shaky foundations.
When an attempt at family reconciliation is made in the final scene, Cronenberg quietly suggests things are not that simple. For, like the many flesh wounds Tom receives, they will heal in time, but not without leaving a scar.
