2. A History Of Violence (2005)
New Line CinemaA David Cronenberg comic book movie was never going to be conventional, and despite being one of the auteur's more accessible features this loose adaptation of the 1997 graphic novel still incorporates several of the director's signature visual and thematic ideologies to create an intelligent and gripping insight into duality and the nature of violence. Viggo Mortensen delivers a career-best performance as Tom Stall, a seemingly average family man who kills two robbers in self-defense and inadvertently becomes a local celebrity, actions that cause his murky past to interfere with his new life. Much like the movie's narrative, Mortensen's turn is measured and calculated as the small-town father goes from dealing with marital strife and family problems to confronting his previous existence head on. Bolstered by a strong supporting cast including Maria Bello, Ed Harris and William Hurt, A History of Violence is a brilliantly slow-burning crime thriller laced with tension that builds to a fittingly violent climax and an ending left open to interpretation.