Violence is used as Cronenberg's favorite toy.

"A History of Violence"
3 stars out of 4
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Mario Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt


David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" is a tricky film, the director plays the audience like a piano to see what makes them tick, and to see how they react to his risky character piece starring Viggo Mortensen as Tom Stahl, a small town nobody turned hero after he defends his diner from two criminals looking for some cash.

Tom becomes an instant hero around the town, he can't stop appearing on the news, and it seems as though his family of three has never seemed safer then now. His family including faithful wife Edie (Bello), and his children Sarah and Jack. Reporters come to Tom's house after he has returned from the hospital, it's safe to say he wants to keep a low profile and move along with his family toaward lighter days.

Now to the moment that intrigues us early, while the robbers are getting dealt with in Tom's diner, it's made awfully clear to the audience how trained it seems that he is in killing, no mistakes made, it just seems to easy to defeat a threat thrusted towards him. We suddenly get the feeling that Tom has done this before, and that is the basis for the rest of the film.

Old faces from the past start to appear in Tom's life, faces that pose a threat to his family. Ed Harris plays Carl Fogarty, a high level mobster of sorts from Philly who knows Tom only as Joey Cusack. During there first conversation that we see in the film, Carl and Tom talk back and forth with opposing views on who Tom is. Tom doesn't know a Joey Cusack, but Fogarty knows a man by that name all to well, Joey Cusack is the man who ripped Carl's left eye out with barb wire.

Things get difficult for the Stahl's when Edie comes closer and closer to believing Fogarty about her husband's real identity. She witnesses his real identity when Fogarty and his goons bring there business to Tom's house, things get quite messy. " A History of Violence" is Cronenberg's to win or lose, his many risks pay off along with the tight story, we never know what will come next, maybe nothing will come next, but we are suprised either way.

Other notables are awarded to William Hurt, playing Tom's brother who plays a specific role to a precise stature. Mortenson and Bello are believeable and thier roles, along with Harris who supports Mortenson and Bello good enough. "A History of Violence" could grow more on me with a 2nd viewing that requires more attention paid to Cronenberg's style and storytelling.