I'm tired of picking on poor Cronenberg, but certainly he's problematic. Brags about wanting to make a commercial film this time. It is watchable, and certainly more thoughtful than some, but it fails to rise very far above the average fare today. A revenge plot, family man saves his family, becomes local town hero. The interesting bit is that he learned his deadly fighting skill from his criminal past, member of the mob. Though he's tried to go straight and peaceful, he's pulled back in and forced to defend himself. This film could raise the question of justifiably violent men defending the normal way of lifesince he's was a gangster. Allegorically, this theme wonders where to draw the line between "da Family" and the family, between gangs and communities. But that question is too dubious and/ or too vaguely formed here. The audience in fact is not encouraged to pursue it once it potentially appears in the form of his wife angrily leaving him because he'd lied about his past all these years, only to be violently raped on the stairs by him.
If one has a history of violence, can you truly reform? That seems to be Cronenberg's line of thought. Not very deep.
If one has a history of violence, can you truly reform? That seems to be Cronenberg's line of thought. Not very deep.