movie review - A History of Violence
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
This is an extremely violent gangster flick that starts with a fellow in a small town who's making a living with a greasy spoon. He's got a loving (and smoking hot) wife and all is well. Then two thugs arrive in town, and violence breaks out leaving the intruders dead.
Our hero, maybe an ex-mafia killer, comes out on top but in doing so he makes the news. That causes old enemies from his past to seek him out, and from that point on the body count begins to spiral ever upward. His brother leads the charge, full of accusations of betrayal and hardship.
I enjoyed it as far as it goes. It's an unchallenging plot that focuses more on characters than real conflict despite all the bullets flying. I can't imagine seeing it again. What makes this worth watching are the performances of both the reformed killer and his wife. Both actors are spot on. Unfortunately, the story seems to be trying a bit too hard to be the hip, taut drama and comes off as somewhat stilted. Especially in the final act, which frankly feels like a different movie, a conclusion that they'd made because they'd no alternative after the rest of the film was made.
Not recommended.