A History Of Violence (2005) 7/10

Starring : Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt
Director : David Cronenburg
Running Time : 95 mins

Tom Stall (Mortensen) is declared a local hero when he stops two cold-blooded killers in his restaurant. Against his wishes, the story is plastered all over the newspapers, attracting unwanted attention from the criminal world. A gangster named Carl Fogarty (Harris) turns up in town, claiming to know Tom and saying that he used to be a well-respected hit-man in the past. Tom denies all knowledge of this supposed past existence, which leads Fogarty to begin sending threats to his family.

Despite being filled with the usual Cronenburg trademarks, such as random sex and violence, overall this was an enjoyable film - and far more mainstream feeling than some of his past efforts - thanks to Mortensen's ability to come across as a perfect innocent for the majority of the film, though I'm not sure if this can be assigned to his acting ability or his lack of acting ability.

You'll like this if you liked : The Punisher