A History of Violence

By Mal -
7 out of 10
A film that felt half an hour too short. I blame Peter Jackson. Regardless, it certainly lives up to the title. While, out of necessity, it’s relatively slow-paced, there are two moments of sheer brilliance that made me wish the whole film were like that. Had it been, this would be a 10, without doubt. Both Mortensen and Cronenberg deserve great praise.

As it is, these gems merely sparkle magnificently in the midst of a good-but-not-great film. I’ll not spoil it by describing the scenes, but it’s a long time since I’ve sat in a silent auditorium so absolutely thrilled. Maybe I should give this an 8 after all?

P.S. when considering my score for this movie, I realised it was less than I gave King Kong. And that was wrong. Kong has been suitably downgraded to a 6.

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