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'A History of Violence' starring Viggo Mortensen and directed by David Cronenberg. (StaEAN 5017239193729)

On the surface, David Cronenberg may seem an unlikely candidate to direct A History of Violence, but dig deeper and you'll see that he's the right man for the job. As an intellectual seeker of meaning and an avowed believer in Darwinian survival of the fittest, Cronenberg knows that the story of mild-mannered small-town diner proprietor Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is in fact a multilayered examination of inbred human behavior, beginning when Tom's skillful killing of two would-be robbers draws unwanted attention to his idyllic family life in rural Indiana. He's got a loving wife (Maria Bello) and young daughter (Heidi Hayes) who are about to learn things about Tom they hadn't suspected, and a teenage son (Ashton Holmes) who has inherited his father's most prominent survival trait, manifesting itself in ways he never expected. By the time Tom has come into contact with a scarred villain (Ed Harris) and connections that lead him to a half-crazy kingpin (William ! Hurt, in a spectacular cameo), Cronenberg has plumbed the dark depths of human nature so skillfully that A History of Violence stands well above the graphic novel that inspired it (indeed, Cronenberg was unaware of the source material behind Josh Olson's chilling adaptation). With hard-hitting violence that's as sudden as it is graphically authentic, this is A History of Violence that's worthy of serious study and widespread acclaim. --Jeff Shannon

This movie is a masterpiece.It is also one of the best sudies of man as the primitive self.

I'm not a huge fan of Cronenberg and didnt enter into this film with particularly high expectations - maybe thats why I enjoyed this film as much as I did.

The story gripped me from the start and I found myself changing my mind throughout the film as to the motives of Mortensen and Harris. The acting is suberb - especially in the scenes between Mortensen and Harris, there is a real palpable sense of tension whenever they are on screen together.

I was gripped by the story and the script, It's not a film for everyone - I can see why some people may find it slow - but if you watch it, concentrate, get drawn into the story and are patient with it, it will reward you.

The style of the film is quite low key - which I think suits it - interspersed with some quite horrific and graphic violence.

Overall, in my opinion, my favourite Cronenberg.

` A History of Violence' is about a family man named Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) who owns a diner in a small town in Indiana. Everything seems quiet and peaceful in his life until one day when two men come into his restaurant and threaten the staff and customers with a gun. Tom disarms the men and kills them both in defence, becoming a local hero in his town. Days later he is then approached by a man named Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) who begins to ask him questions about his past, a different life in Philadelphia and starts to harass him and his family.

I love some of David Cronenberg's earlier films such as The Fly, Scanners and The Dead Zone, and A History of Violence is a great addition to these classics. The story is fairly slow going and does have a lot of focus on the characters rather than just action, but this makes it all the more suspenseful as I felt like I was always wondering what was going to happen next and whether Fogarty had got the wrong man or not.

The acting from the whole cast is very believable and well performed, especially from Ed Harris who comes across as a genuinely scary and intimidating person indeed. Mortensen's character starts off quite sickly with his whole ideal father image, but once he kills the men in the diner, my opinion of his character changed completely, showing a really confused, shocked and scared individual.

The special effects are a good as you'd expect from a Cronenberg too with some really shocking and gruesome shots (even if they are only shown for a second).

Overall this wasn't as good as I'd hyped myself up for it to be but is still a brilliant thriller that kept me gripped to the story throughout the whole movie. Although it is fairly slow paced to begin with it does pick up at a rocketing speed right near the end to a point where there was only about 5 minutes left and I was wondering how the hell they were going to tie it all up in just a few minutes. If you enjoy thrillers I'd definitely give this a go.

i was really dissapointed by this movie which loses a lot momentum and credability halfway through the film.that said its got excellent performances and it has a brain in its head so its more of a fasinating failure

How's this for generic? - A normal all-American man with a beautiful wife, troubled teenage son and a sweet young daughter. His name is Tom Stall. One day his life takes a turn for the worse when mysterious armed men try to rob his small-town diner and Tom becomes an American hero by killing the two men and saving his customers. Such is the beginning of 'A History of Violence'.
What makes this film stand out and avoid the potentially cliched material from which it is made is that this time the story is being told through a more honest lens. Each and every major character in the movie is drawn with a great deal of psychological complexity, the script and direction are incredible and lend a dark thematic exploration to the film which is so rarely seen in mainstream cinema. And of course there's Viggo Mortensen.
Tom Stall is the main protagonist of the film, but despite the claims of the news reporters who throng around him after he stops the robbery this man is no hero. Stall doesn't get painted as the two dimensional John Wayne role that he would normally be, instead he's someone deeply disturbed by what he's done and who's main concern is to try and forget the incident. When questions are raised over his identity and ability to kill (a nice touch being that the film acknowledges the unlikeliness of an everyday man being able to do what a movie character is able to) Mortensen's incredible performance leaves you genuinely unsure as to his past whilst remaining so likable and human that you feel guilty for doubting him. Never has a protagonist so conflicted an audience whilst simultaneously they've been rooting for him. Mortensen's overlooking for an academy award was a travesty.
This is a movie about violence. Not just a film which features violence but one which explores the nature of violence and questions it's portrayal in films. Cronenburg is far from alien to dealing with the theme of mutation in his films, but here that mutation is mental rather than physical with it slowly infecting every aspect of the family's life from the son's behavior in school to the sex life of Tom and his wife (a fantastic Maria Bello). The final scene of this film is a heart-rending piece of nihilism which is as much a comment on the audience as it is on the characters.
This is a graphic film. It is really worth noting that if you have problems with explicit violence or sex in films this might well be worth avoiding. There are two sex scenes in this films, both have a definite and necessary purpose within the film and it would be worse off without them so I don't consider them gratuitous, but they are fairly graphic. The violence here is brutal, realistic and utterly disgusting since it refuses to shy from the pain or tragedy of what most films would glorify or styilise for the sake of inoffensiveness. It's a rare film that can make you feel disgusted and pained at the death of a serial killing psychopath.
This film scares, provokes, challenges, and actively attacks the veiws of it's audience. It keeps you involved and captivated for all of it's deceptively brief run-time. It's ugly yet beautiful, thrilling but disgusting, it's compelling whilst it's repulsive. This is one of the smartest, best acted, best directed, best written films I've ever seen and it's power to move and challenge it's audience is almost unparalleled in films this entertaining. It's an action western starring a Lord of the Rings star that questions the popularity of good-looking killers in movies - How's that for unique?