A History of Violence (New Line Platinum Series)

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I hardly made it through this movie. I love Viggo Mortensen, and that's the only reason I stuck with it. The acting was sub par and left a LOT to be desired. Everyone was very monotone and inexpressive. The plot had the potential to be interesting, but wasn't followed through with. The soundtrack also was uninteresting and didn't really add to the film. If you want an interesting action movie, look elsewhere.

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A History of Violence (New Line Platinum Series)

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WARNING: This film contains strong brutal violence, graphic sexuality/nudity, explicit language, and brief drug use.

In the film A History of Violence, director David Cronenberg (Videodrome and Crash) examines America's fascination with violence. At the same time, both compelling and disturbing, the film shows the way that violence affects the residents of a small town in the Midwest. Utilizing his sense of irony, as well as his cinematic ability to create suspense, Cronenberg focuses on the characters, their motivations, their actions, and their regrets. He forces viewers to ask themselves what the consequences of violence are and whether or not killing can ever be justified?

Tom Stall and his family seem like your typical church-going, honest American family, but all of that changes on one fateful night when two psychotic criminals threaten the patrons of Tom's diner and Tom shoots them both, in self-defense, and kills them. Suddenly Tom finds himself a quasi-celebrity and the dynamic of his family shifts. His wife Edie, his son Jack, and his daughter Sarah become aware that Tom is more than what they thought. Their lives are intruded upon when a group of hitmen from Philadelphia claim that Tom is really a killer named Joey Cusack. Lead by a man named Carl Fogarty, the hitmen target Tom's family and Tom begins to show a paranoid and aggressive dark side that scares his loved ones. After a final confrontation with Fogarty and his men, Tom and his wife's marriage is fractured and their lives are forever altered. Is Tom really Joey, a killer for the mob? And if so, can he find redemption or is he always going to be haunted by this history of violence?

The film is certainly Cronenberg's most commercial endeavor and this is in part because of the brilliant cast featuring Viggo Mortensen as Tom Stall, Maria Bello as Edie Stall, Ed Harris as Carl Fogarty, and William Hurt as Richie Cusack.
When New Line Cinema released A History of Violence, they advertised it as an action/thriller, which isn't entirely accurate. While the film contains action and is sure to thrill, it's really more of a character study showing the dualism of one man's identity and his attempts to forget his past. It's also a stark reminder of what desperation can drive us to do.

Also recommended:
Straw Dogs
Death Wish
Taxi Driver
The Bourne Identity (1988 television version)
The Films of Michael Haneke
Ransom
Memento
Road to Perdition

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A History of Violence (New Line Platinum Series)

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Viggo Mortensen (A Perfect Murder, Lord Of The Rings 1-3) plays Tom Stall, a family man in a small town. Tom and his lovely wife (Maria Bello) live a peaceful, ordinary life raising their kids. All is well until a pair of cold-blooded killers decide to rob the diner where Tom works. In the chaos, Tom displays incredible fighting skills, taking out both men w/ quick, lethal force. Tom becomes a media hero, but just wants the whole incident to be forgotten. A few days later, a trio of well-dressed thugs arrive in town, lead by a very sinister Ed Harris. What do these guys want? What secret is Tom hiding? A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE is a story of betrayal, lies, and murder. It's also the tale of a man's attempt to escape his past by becoming someone new, someone better. Mortensen is his usual calm / cool self, dispatching bad-guys like human dominoes. The physical, visceral stuff is easy for his character. Living a normal life is what becomes far more difficult. After all, what does murder and mayhem have in common w/ being a loving husband and father? As for the "shocking" scene on the stairs, I found it to be a perfect way to show the conflict between love and revulsion that Tom's wife must face. Unsettling, yet confusingly erotic. Bello shows great frustration and anger mixed w/ longing and release. A unique sequence to say the least! Buy immediately...

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