With a title such as A History of Violence, I'd say I wasn't expecting less. And with Cronenberg as director, I must say I was very disappointed. Don't get me wrong - this film would not have been saved by more violent or 'gory' scenes. There was no suspense, at all, present in even one of the scenes. How am I supposed to force any suspension of disbelief in the face-off scene with Joey's brother? How the hell does a violent experienced gangster miss several gunshots from no more than six feet away? Why is the movie so badly paced and without climax? What was the point of this movie, if there ever was one? (Darwin my ass
). The character development lacked any depth, and it really shows that this movie is based on a graphic novel. Sin City was too, but atleast it didn't try to be pretentious about it, it literally bathed in it. Also, ninety nine percent of the scenes in this movie were so incredibly predictable - I was thinking to myself throughout the entire film "I seriously hope that's not going to happen, that'd be so incredibly cliched and done-to-death, Cronenberg wouldn't, no, couldn't!" - And then it happened. I was waiting for this miracle twist to come to the film's rescue, but that never happened. I'm actually surprised this film made it to cinemas at all, as it left me with the distinct impression of a badly done straight to video/film channel flick.
