Great flick, certainly one of the best of the year. Amazing discussion starter.

Saw it on a Friday a couple of weeks ago and have since recommended it to everyone I know. The acting is universally excellent, the tension is well executed and the violence/sex seem to fit in perfectly with the story. They are never there merely to have some tits and blood but rather to further complicate the story.

When he's firing, Cronenberg can do no wrong. Easily one of the most interesting (read NOT the best) of the last 20 years, right up there with Lynch and Eastwood (Yes, Eastwood. Has three bonafide classics with Unforgiven, Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby, all dark, complex adult minded films).

It reminded me of Blue Velvet at times with its depictions of a small, serene Americana town that has strong dark undercurrents of violence. Not nearly as surreal as Lynch's masterpiece but certainly touched on the same themes.

As for an earlier post about the dialogue being corny, I believe thats entirely on purpose to create this Norman Rockwell-esque idea of this small town. These people are meant to represent the everyday American people. Lynch uses this same technique in both Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. For Velvet, it works like it does in Violence to create this sense of classical suburban American where everyone speaks in classic Americana speak. For Mulholland Drive, it helps to create the dreamlike feeling and also nods to some of the tame dialogue of studio-era Hollywood, since after all, at its heart, Mulholland Drive is a movie about the movies.