A History of Violence (2005)

This was the Movie Club pick for the week.  Every time I watch this, I'm struck by something new.  This time, it's how effective the use of blood is.  Cronenberg is used to throwing a lot of bodily fluids at the screen, but his touch is so light here.  The violence looks organic so the blood is shocking.  It's not gratuitous or excessive.  It sparks an atavistic reaction in its restraint.  A true horror.  And I think that's beautiful.  Originally posted 04 Jan 16.    This movie gets better every time I see it.  It's just so dark and twisted.

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) had the perfect small-town life.  He ran a diner, his wife Edie (Maria Bello) was just as in love with him after two kids as she was the day they married, and he had no enemies.  Then two crooks try to rob the diner, and threaten to murder an employee.  Tom kills them both.  The newspapers and local TV praise him as an American hero, but all the incident does is stir some very nasty men from Philadelphia who seem convinced that Tom is not who is pretending to be.

I think the reason this movie works so well is because of how little information you truly get while watching.  There's no real exposition, no flashbacks, everything just proceeds from one point in time. All the characters' relationships have to be implied and it's a masterful bit of acting.