28 Days (2000)

Comedy-drama directed by Betty Thomas.

Sandra Bullock plays an alcoholic who is forced to enter rehab after her drinking sprawls out of control. After initially resisting it, she eventually ends up coming to terms with a new way of life.

It’s a somewhat sanitised account of addiction. Even at her ‘worst’ moments, she looks fantastic. But – this being Sandra Bullock – there are moments of humour, and it’s always engaging.

Viggo Mortensen is underused as a fellow addict and possible love interest.

Dominic West is (deliberately?) annoying as Gwen’s bad-influence boyfriend, while Steve Buscemi is passable as one of the clinic’s counselors.

It’s nice to see (and hear) Loudon Wainwright, who strums his guitar and sings on a few occasions.

A History of Violence (2005)

Thriller directed by David Cronenberg. 

An “ordinary” American, Tom Stall, works in a cafe in a small town. One day, a pair of crooks come in and threaten him and his staff. With what might be pure luck or uncanny combat skills, he quickly dispenses with them and is celebrated as a hero by the town. But then some gangsters show up in the same diner and appear to know Tom. Is this just a case of mistaken identity or does he have a troubling and mysterious past?

Viggo Mortensen stars, bringing depth to a complicated part. His wife is played brilliantly by Maria Bello in a fully rounded role. Ed Harris plays the sinister criminal whose appearance changes everything. 

There’s strong suspense and – as the title implies – a fair bit of blood. Cronenberg explores the nature of identity and violence, and the impact they have on family life. 

It's a scary and compassionate drama.

The Two Faces of January (2014)

Directed by Hossein Amini, this is an absolutely stunning thriller adapted from the 1964 novel by Patricia Highsmith. 

It’s 1962. American con artist Chester MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife Colette (Kirsten Dunst) are holidaying in Greece, when MacFarland’s criminal past catches up with him. Desperate and needing to flee, the couple team up with Rydal Keener (Oscar Isaac), an American tour guide who himself is a conman, albeit on a far smaller scale. But Rydal’s motivations are ambiguous – he has designs on Colette, while seeing Chester as a reminder of the father he recently lost. 

The exciting plot consistently ramps up the tension as the fortunes of the three become more and more entangled. 

It’s brilliantly directed: every shot is expertly framed for maximise the drama. 

The soundtrack by Alberto Iglesias is uncannily well suited to the action. 

It’s an admirably short film at 97 minutes: taut and perfectly paced.

The Road (2009)

Brilliantly bleak disaster/survival story adapted from the novel by Cormac McCarthy. 

An unnamed man and his son (Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee) travel across the wasteland of a post-apocalyptic America following an unnamed disaster. 

It’s horrifying in places (there’s a recurring thread about vigilante bands of cannibals roaming the land), but it’s also a tender drama about the love between a boy and his father. 

The film asks you to consider what value life has after everything else has been lost. I like the way it doesn’t try to explain the event that led to this chaos. Instead, it just puts you straight into the situation and lets you stare it in the face.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Third and final part of Peter Jackson’s (first) Tolkien trilogy. 

It’s ridiculously epic in terms of length (over three hours) and narrative scope (action across multiple kingdoms). There’s a more emotional aspect, too, making this the strongest of the three films. 

As before there’s plenty of soaring choral music and once again it’s probably best not to ask too many questions about the rules behind when, where and how the “magic” can be applied.

I would have liked a better resolution of the plot thread about Éowyn (Miranda Otto) and her love for Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), who goes off with the elf lady played by Liv Tyler, but the film was long enough already.

The most striking aspect is that it’s extremely unusual to see a film about hetrosexual male love. But if nothing else, this is a study of exactly that. The tender, selflessly generous understanding between Sam (Sean Astin) and Frodo (Elijah Wood) is explored with real sensitivity. It ends up being hugely touching, despite all my cynicism.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Second part of the trilogy. More running around Middle-earth uttering fairly ludicrous statements and looking serious. 

You simply need to take it at face value that this creature/thing can out-magic that creature thing, or that this mystic power can thwart that one. 

There’s little here that wasn’t done better in the first instalment, which had a more unified narrative. Also, the segments featuring the walking, talking living trees dragged and detracted from the dynamism of the big battle scenes. 

The best thing about the series is Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn Elessar. He’s fun to watch, unlike the loutish Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and the silly baddie with hair like Cher (Christopher Lee). 

It suffers from “mid-trilogy” problems in that it has to build on or develop themes from the previous film without the luxury of being about to resolve any of them.