History of Violence

 


 

Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a small town diner owner, an exemplary family man, father to a sweetie cutie pie little girl, and an angry teenage boy who is well trained to resolve conflicts with the school bullies in non-violence ways. One day, two killers walk into Tom's diner, their intentions made (deliberately) crystal clear by the opening scene of the Movie. At first Tom acts like a common nerd, begging them to take the money and leave, but when they pick on his waitress he becomes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, or rather, a well oiled killing machine, and disposes of the two killers. He turns into an instant town hero and the darling of the media. The troubles begin when three mobsters show up in the diner, claiming that Tom is actually Joey, a former murderer and mobster. At first he denies everything, but they insist so much that when they try to kidnap his son, he becomes Mr. Hyde again and kills them, and who saves his life but his pacifist son. His wife realizes he's been lying to her all along (which does not prevent her from having hot sex with him on the house stairwell). The final answer to the question of Tom's true identity comes when he gets a phone call from his brother (William Hurt in a surprising role), a top mobster in his own right. "Mr. Hyde" lashes out again and kills his brother's men and then his brother (to his credit, this time it was self defense - they did tried to kill him...)

So who's the good guy here and who is the bad guy? When is violence justifiable and when is it not?

Note the very touching homecoming of Tom/Joey, all meek and humble after the fight with his brother, to his family sitting around the dinner table. His daughter welcomes him first with setting another a place at the table. Then his son welcomes him with granting him the honor of carving and serving the food to the family. His loving wife is the third to welcome him, with tears. None of them says a word. Will his wife forgive him for lying to her? Will he regain the respect of his son, who was raised on the principles of non- violence? And in general, could Joey go be back to being Tom, the anonymous diner owner, as if nothing had happened?

The Movie is not bad, but why couldn't they have maintained a level of suspense and avoid revealing the secret for more than haa Movie?