The End of Violence

REVIEW
Director Wenders' disdain for contemporary Hollywood and fear of Los Angeles is evident in almost every scene of The End of Violence. Pullman plays a producer specializing in blood-and-bullets epics who is so absorbed in financing his latest movie that when wife MacDowell announces she's leaving him, he barely reacts. Soon, Pullman leaves his big pool and Malibu estate, too; he's carjacked by two thugs who can't figure out what to do with their high-profile victim. While trying to decide, they're murdered, giving Pullman a chance to start a new life for himself -- working anonymously with a group of Latino gardeners. At the same time, Byrne, a former government scientist is busy on his new assignment, developing a surveillance system for the L.A. area. When one of Byrne's cameras catches the killing of Pullman's assailants, strange things start to occur and skeletons are pulled out of both men's closets. Their lives eventually cross. Part thriller, part Hollywood business satire and part marital drama, The End of Violence is a haunting meditation on living and dying in L.A., a place where a wife uses a cell phone to tell her husband she wants a divorce while sitting a few feet away. While succeeding more in parts than as a whole, the film offers many compelling moments in the areas it covers. As a discourse on boredom, it's often downright arresting.