Week-end DVD Watch - Violence that can shake you from the inside

The movie is a noir thriller from British director Micheal Winterbottom. Based on the pulp thriller by Jim Thompson, it has Casey Affleck playing a chilling Sociopath Lou Ford, who as irony would have is the Sheriff of a small Texas town. This is a period film - 1950s - where men would tip their Stetsons as a mark of politeness to strange women in the morning and wouldn't fuss around much about flogging their bottoms at night. Lou however takes this to a much higher degree with the local prostitute Jessica Alba. Glamor quotient goes up a notch higher with Kate Hudson playing Lou's wife. Like Jessica Alba, she too does not see the violence coming - sledgehammer blows in the stomach and face that knock 'em senseless and dead. "Nobody sees it coming" says Lou in a quiet Texan drawl, devoid of any emotion.

Before I move on, I'd like to warn you. This is a very violent movie. And the violence is always on women by men. What is worse, director Winterbottom ratchets it up further by portraying the women as the types who love the violence inflicted on them. Pretty shameful, if you ask me. But Winterbottom, is on a trip here. So you take it the way it is, or you can choose to spend those 90 minutes elsewhere. If you have the stomach for it though, there are a few surprises in store.

For starters, this is as close as you can get to really experiencing sexual violence. Lou is every woman's dream. He flashes a pearly white smile, and is draped in perfect fitting trousers that wrap a fit, lithe frame. But beneath that gloss he has the morals of a sewer rat. And through Lou, director Winterbottom confronts the audience with the reality of sexual violence that cinema so often glamorizes. This is the denied reality behind every silly cop show, sexed-up horror flick, and theatrical Jack the Ripper tourist attraction. This dear reader, is the real deal. Grab a DVD if you are game.