A gory 'history' lesson

While leaving the theater after "A History of Violence" it was apparent to me this film is going to create division with its audience. Some may deem it overly violent and pointless trash. Others may call it a modern-day masterpiece, and some may even leave the theater unsure of how to feel. In my opinion, this illustrates that director David Cronenberg ("Dead Ringers," "The Fly") succeeded with this film, which, like so many of his works, sets out to leave us thinking.\n"A History of Violence" stars Viggo Mortensen ("The Lord of the Rings" trilogy) as Tom Stall, a family man with a simple life in a simple town (the fictional Millbrook, Indiana). He runs a small café, has a beautiful wife and two kids, owns a nice quiet farm home and seems happy. \nStall's straightforward, routine life is disturbed one evening when two "out-of-towners" come into the restaurant with guns demanding money and threatening the lives of the employees and customers. With a gun pointed at his head and a coworker about to be brutally murdered, Stall, acting on instinct, disarms and shoots both men in the blink of an eye. \nThe shooting makes both local and national news. Stall is hailed a local hero and gains the support of the whole town.\nOne day at the restaurant, Stall is greeted by three tough looking suits with thick Philadelphia accents. The apparent boss in the group, Carl Fogarty, played wonderfully by Ed Harris ("Pollack," "A Beautiful Mind"), starts asking Stall questions about his heroic act -- except he refers to Stall as Joey. Stall tries to correct him, saying that his name is Tom Stall, but Fogarty is convinced that he is "Crazy Joey Cusack" from Philly. \nAs the days go by, Stall continues to see Fogarty, often in his sinister black sedan, and is eventually informed by the town sheriff that Fogarty is part of the Philadelphia mob scene and is not someone to be associated with. Do these men really know Tom? Are there skeletons in Tom's closet that his family is unaware of?\nAt times "A History of Violence" seems to take its cues from films like the Cohen Brothers' "Fargo," or David Lynch's "Blue Velvet," which all set out to show the evils lurking in small town America. The dialogue during this film is, at times, corny and will obviously be scorned by some audience members, but this level of campiness is no doubt intentional, creating the feeling of a peaceful and normal environment erupting into violence. \nCronenberg, like Lynch, is a master of creating bizarre worlds for his characters. The use of gory violence, the weird music score and the underlying level of chaos that builds as the film progresses are all pure Cronenberg traits that help create a feeling of unexpected violence. \nThough there are some scenes and characters that could have been handled differently, "A History of Violence" is a very good film that, again, may not be for everyone. The acting is solid (Mortensen proves he can do more than play King), the look and feel is unique and it may leave you wondering about human nature and what happens when a dark past catches up to you.