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Appearances can be deceptive in David Cronenberg's A History Of Violence, a comicbook adaptation that's as violent as Sin City but a lot more thoughtful. Just as questions of identity surround family man Tom (Viggo Mortensen) after he kills two vicious hoods, so the film reveals layers of complexity beneath its seemingly simple surface. What's more, this may look like a mainstream gig for Cronenberg, but it's his most challenging - and enjoyable - work in years.

Life seems blissfully quiet for small-town diner owner Tom and his lawyer wife Edie (Maria Bello on smart, sexy form) - until, that is, he foils an attempted robbery in spectacularly bloody fashion. Uncomfortable with the idea of being a media celebrity, he squirms even more when mystery man Carl (Ed Harris) arrives on the scene, claiming that Tom owes him for a past misdeed. Has he got the wrong man? Does Tom have a secret past? One thing’s for sure: the carnage will continue...

"YOU COULD CUT THE TENSION WITH A MACHETE"

Delivered in short, sharp, shocking bursts, what's remarkable about the bloodshed is how it both excites and unsettles. Mindless violence this ain't: it raises all kinds of questions - moral, social, artistic - about the kicks we get from screen savagery. But while the film toys with generic assumptions, it also works as a top-drawer suspense thriller. From the icy opening to the ambiguous final scene, you could cut the tension with a machete.

The late appearance of a somewhat mis-cast William Hurt (with a distracting chin beard) mars the mood a little, but the acting is generally first-rate with Mortensen showing more depth than he did in three Lord Of The Rings movies. Yet the star of the show is Cronenberg, whose tightrope walk between spectacle and critique hits hard at both gut and mind.