A History Of Violence (2005) Dir: David Cronenberg
- Ridley Coote
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
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David Cronenberg is most famous for his iconic body horrors, but this 2005 thriller, based on the 1997 novel by John Wagner, has received plenty of critical acclaim in its own right, although it definitely places more on the side of cult hit than it does classic. I was familiar with its name, but not its contents, and was keen to see what Cronenberg had cooked up. The fact that it starred Viggo Mortensen wasn't a bad reason to watch either, mind you.
I must admit, I wasn't all that impressed by the visuals of the film. Indeed, it was rather drab and boring to look at. It looked like a really generic crime thriller, which is particularly disappointing, because I think Cronenberg could have done something a lot more interesting with it. Not only that, but the soundtrack failed to inspire me in any significant way either. Upon reflection, I struggled to recall any of it.
The narrative, however, is where this film's fortunes turned around, at least as far as I was concerned. The mystery element was really well told, and the the execution of the reveal worked excellently. There was a pretty creepy love scene towards the beginning, although I think the sentiment was supposed to be sweet. Regardless of that, the execution was not sweet at all. I liked the rest of the film though, from a storyline point of view - it was gripping. I really liked how it alluded to the 'nature versus nurture' debate, and how that might play out within its story.
The film was built around the performances of its two lead actors, who were excellent. Viggo Mortensen gave a really underrated performance as the film's protagonist, particularly in how he conveyed the subtle shifts in his character's personality. His co-star and on-screen spouse Maria Bello also provided a very strong performance, feeding off of her character's complex and evolving feelings to great effect.
Of the supporting cast, I thought both Ed Harris and William Hurt gave pretty decent performances in their villainous roles, especially Harris, who I've come to appreciate a fair bit from an acting perspective. There were two other names worth mentioning; Ashton Holmes, who did fairly well with his character's emotional turmoil, and Peter MacNeill, who provided arguably the most endearing character in the film.
Overall, I thought this was a solid crime thriller, but one that failed to stand out from a visual or auditory perspective, certainly when compared to some of David Cronenberg's more notable works. It's good for what it is, but I imagine it will always be more of a cult hit than a genre classic. I enjoyed it, but if someone wanted a recommendation for either a Cronenberg film or a crime thriller, I don't think I'd ever be recommending this one first.
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