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"The Man With or
Without a Past..." |
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Directed by David
Cronenberg - Written by
John Wagner & Vince
Locke
Starring Viggo
Mortensen, Maria Bello,
Ed Harris & William Hurt
Distributed by New Line -
2005 - 96m - Rated R |
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If only for a few scenes... |
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Picture,
for a moment, the Venus de Milo with a clown nose and a funny hat. In
a nutshell, that is David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence"... A
brilliant work of art with a few of the most ridiculously embarrassing
and utterly unnecessary accessories in recent memory.
There you have it... Scattered throughout a taut and mesmerizingly
tense screenplay are some scenes that had my jaw dropped, partly
through amazement that they were included and partly because I found
myself laughing at unintended moments.
Viggo Mortensen plays Tom, a small town family man who becomes a local
hero when he thwarts a robbery and possible rape in his own
restaurant. In doing so, he kills the two criminals and the media
picks up on the story.
Within days of his new-found celebrity, he is paid a visit by some
Philadelphia mobsters, led by a scar-faced Ed Harris in a chilling
performance, who are convinced that he is a man named Joey Cusack.
I cannot detail the plot without giving away major plot points that
are best left to a virgin viewing experience, but needless to say, Tom
and his family are hounded by the danger of this mafia threat and Tom
is forced to take action.
I was reminded of the 1998 masterpiece, "A Simple Plan" in terms of
tension, style, the small town intimacy & the mounting escalation of
dramatic events. It was this part of the story that was truly riveting
and masterfully written.
However, there are about a dozen scenes of such cringe-worthy
corniness that I found myself questioning the brilliance of the rest
of the film. Some of the scenes were the worst in ANY film I saw in
2005. All but one of them involve Tom's children. The adults in this
film, Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris and William Hurt, all
give fine performances worthy of award consideration. But the kids in
this film... OH... MY... GOD!!! I can honestly say that I haven't seen
such wooden acting outside of a "Star Wars" movie. Actually the acting
in Star Wars puts these kids to shame. The worst of these scenes
involve a high-school bully's attempts to push around the son. Every
time we break for this sub-plot, viewer's eyes will be rolling.
The family moments are so forced and awkward that is almost destroys
the credibility built up in the rest of the screen-time. There is also
one astonishing poorly timed sex scene on the stairs (you'll know it
when you see it) that may have been the most miscalculated moment of
the decade. It belongs in a daytime soap opera.
I am not sure that I have ever been so conflicted in watching over
three thousand films. Most of this film deserves an A... Parts of this
film are truly not worthy of a Porky's sequel.
However, brush aside these 10-12 scenes, about 20 minutes worth of
useless plot, and you have one of the best films of the year. How can
a film alternately be this good and this bad?
I am giving the film a recommendation, but I cannot imagine that you
won't notice the same flaws. Some may be more forgiving than I, as is
evident from the critical acclaim it is receiving. But the flaws are
there... you cannot convince me that you didn't at least recognize
their presence.
Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" is a concerto by Mozart
interrupted on occasion by the theme to Benny Hill. It is so close to
greatness that it feels like a real shame to have let it go for some
unnecessary scenes. |
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© Written by TC Candler |
Richard
Propes' Comment
n/a
Jacob
Hall's Comment
n/a
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