The Hindu Business Line : Not quite making history

It takes a while to digest this film but as you dwell on it, A History of Violence lingers memorable for two fine Hollywood actors, Ed Harris and William Hurt.

It's a good story idea, pregnant with possibilities, particularly given the contrasting sides of human behaviour it bridges, yet rendered flat on screen with few riveting frames. So, what stays in mind are the characters and their taste for bloody violence, the latter quite graphic.

The story: Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is living a happy, quiet life with his lawyer wife Edie (Maria Bello) and their two children in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana. That peace is broken when two violent men, with murder on their hands, try to rob Tom's café. Tom kills them both, becoming a local hero in the process. But as his pictures appear on newspapers and TV screens, a set of shady people — not the type usually associated with a quiet Millbrook resident — show up. Led by Carl Fogerty (Ed Harris), who insists Tom was responsible for damaging his eye, their emergence attracts Edie's suspicion and forces Tom to eventually confront a life in violence and a mobster brother, Richie (William Hurt) he had abandoned years ago.

As Tom's past unravels, the Stalls turn aggressive at each other. For a minute you think the film would explore violence as a theme. It not only skirts the invitation but also stays put with tepid frames. In the end, A History of Violence puzzles for folding up as a hurriedly told story.

Harris and Hurt have done a decent job playing Carl and Richie. Carl is the determined menace before murder, Richie, the wealthy mobster with sick thoughts swirling in his violent head.

The movie releases here on Friday, March 10. Not bad, worth seeing.