tomsview Wim Wender's film meanders through a number of loosely connected sequences with the actors seemingly deprived of sleep for days before the shoot in order to deliver performances that are the epitome of low key.Different strands of the story are slowly introduced: Mike Max (Bill Pullman), a Hollywood producer who makes gory action thrillers; Cat (Traci Lind), a stunt woman on his films; his wife Paige (Andy McDowell) who is about to leave him.A seemingly disparate strand involves surveillance expert Ray Bering (Gabriel Byrne) who uses cameras located around Los Angeles to spy on just about everything. Then there is Detective Block (Loren Dean) who is called in when Max disappears.It all goes into the blender, but as each character is introduced, it opens up sequences that constantly pull away from the main thread of the story, which has Max inadvertently receiving a secret document. Among the distractions are scenes involving Bering's father (Sam Fuller), an acting school, and the making of one of Max's films featuring a recreation of the café in Edward Hopper's painting "Nighthawks". The soundtrack by Ry Cooder and others has a detached quality bearing little relationship to the action on screen.Maybe it looked better on paper, but old Wim is such a lover of the obscure that he often cuts away when anything exciting begins to happen. It's hard to pinpoint where you realise the film isn't working; it just slowly slides into inertia. Without giving them away, the surprises at the end seem like a frantic attempt to breathe life into a body that we have already pronounced dead.The film feels a little like "Mulholland Dr.", but of course it was made a few years before Lynch's film. Along with the obscurification, it's probably the setting, the unusual hit men, the association with filmmaking and the acting auditions that does it.If the point of the story was how in the attempt to end violence, surveillance methods and powerful government bodies end up creating more, then it's a ponderous message.The film was in that run of movies that featured interweaving stories that collide at the end; "Magnolia" and "Crash", as well as Altman's brilliant "Short Cuts". However it's a complex format that doesn't really attract me to watching them again. That goes double for "The End of Violence".

moviemaster This should have gotten the Jury award for biggest turkey of the year. People think that if the actors talk in some sort of mumbo jumbo they must be expressing something prophetic... in this case pathetic. Oh it's a product of LA all right, self absorbed and searching for the meaning of life in a place which has already determined that the meaning of life is the fast lane. The protagonist not only gets off the fast lane but falls off the track all together. The acting by some of the principals is bad. The acting of some of the supporting cast is laughable. The director must have been high on life or pot for this is really one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Given material that has merit, the director has produced a few fine works... this is far from one. I doubt if most people who actually paid money to see it lasted to the end. Why bother? I got it in the remainder bin of Comcast... those free movies they allow you to see. They should pay people to watch stuff like this.

futures-1 Because my favorite film Of All Time is by Wim Wenders (who created the brilliant "Wings of Desire"), I compare ALL of of his films to that one, whether or not it's fair. Wenders takes HUGE bites out of the philosophy sandwich, and sometimes can't get it all chewed, swallowed, and digested. I liked his early film "Hammett" for its direct story and period feel. "Wings…" took on MAJOR issues, but did not lose sight of the need to focus. "The End of Violence" wants to be a few films, and none are treated to a full exploration. It's part crime drama, part marital drama, part Hollywood biz drama, and part exploration on the subjects of privacy, violence, perception, and secrecy. That's A LOT to pack into one tasty bite, and nothing is fully appreciated. Wim: ease up. Take one subject, make a full film. Then, take another subject, make another full film. You can do it. Again. All of that said, the acting is good, the score is effective, the photography often striking, the characters often interesting, and some scenes are very memorable.

Eric_Norton Oh my gaaaawwd, what a stinker! Rented this. On paper it looks good - good cast, director, intriguing sounding premise. Started watching, and waited for the film to develop.And waitedAnd waitedAnd then the credits rolled, with nobody having said or done anything of any import whatsoever. I have seen plenty of poor films, but everybody involved in this one should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. I'm surprised none of the actors torched the celluloid before it could reach a screen.