A History of Violence | 
| Director: David Cronenberg
Actors: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Ashton Holmes
Category: DVD
Buy New: $3.44
New (15) Used (9) from $1.80
Rating:  432 reviews
Sales Rank: 96218
Format: Ntsc
Languages: English (Unknown), French (Unknown)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
UPC: 065935221357
EAN: 0065935221357
ASIN: B000E1126G
Theatrical Release Date: September 30, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 427 more reviews...
 Decent Drama June 27, 2009
Dan Holt (San Antonio, TX)
I was expecting more action from this movie. It turned out to be more of a drama, with a couple minutes of violence. It was semi-realistic, and entertaining enough to not turn it off, which is a lot more than I can say for many of today's movies.
I don't really see the benefit in owning the dvd, as the best viewing is the first.
WHAT A TITLE...WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT...STILL ENTERTAINS ALOT! June 11, 2009
Francisco Santoni (USA)
Ok, Ok you young turks who think this film is awesome. It is very entertaining but, like Cronenberg's, EASTERN PROMISES [2007] which I will destroy at a later date, this is a painfully underachieving, swaggering, tease of a movie that falls short at the finish line. Storyline involves a reformed and translocated ex-mobster [Tom Stall aka Joey played by Viggo Mortensen] who is now a diner-owning Family man out in some Mayberry-like town in the midwest. Big problem: ex- mobster pals have located him and want some payback. Movie starts out with a bang with two thugs riding around causing mayhem, dispatching a kid [thank God Cronenberg didn't show this] then terrorizing the folk in Tom's diner. These guys are BAD...basically evil dudes. Great job by Cronenberg with these two degenerates who were very intimidating. When one of the thugs ok's a sex assault on the waitress, Tom steps in and is able to shoot the two while taking a slug himself. The sight of one of the thugs who was shot in the face, prone and swallowing his own blood and ripped-apart facial tissue, is absolutely hideous! This film has gotta be famous for this and one other facial- wound nightmarish monstrosity later in the flick. Ya gotta check these out [hey, Tom, don't you ever aim at the heart?]. Anyway, Tom becomes a local hero. Notoriety, however, attracts old friends. Ex-mob pals, led by Ed Harris, now enter into Tom's previously idyllic existence and threaten to reveal his true identity to Family and friends. They become CAPE FEAR- like pests to his wife and kids until the mugs confront them and Tom is forced to shoot them [hideous facial scene # 2 here]---having his true identity as an ex big city mobster now revealed to his loved ones. Wife [played by Maria Bello] and son [Ashton Holmes] are not too happy with the lies and alter ego and kind of ostracize him. Tom now sets off to Philadelphia to meet with his mobster boss brother [played wonderfully by William Hurt] who sent the goons that messed up his life. Tom faces his bro in this secluded mansion, surely to be Jimmy Hoffa'd. Hurt's 'protection', however, consists of a few slightly-built dudes who look more like hairdressers than mafia. They are pretty incompetent and Tom easily, maybe too easily [big gaffe Cronenberg], takes them out one by one. Hurt's short-lived performance is a gas, however. He's really captivating showing a wierdness and eccentricity not soon forgotten. Tom takes him out, too. The ending, where Tom returns to his home, sits at the dinner table with a stoic wife & teenaged son [still P'd off] but is given a dinner plate by his oblivious, innocent little girl is cute but falls flat and is unsatisfactory. Hey wife & son, the guy changed his life, worked his butt off [no pun intended], defended you and gave you everything he had---give him a break! Dad's bad-azz. How about one of those IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE endings? Mr Cronenberg, we know life is not all apples, peaches and pumpkin pie with happy endings but that's why we watch movies---to get away from [escape] life's monotony and bad breaks. At least give us an ending with hope. The coitus scene on the stairs seemed contrived. Maria Bello, who I feel is a GREAT actress, should have been given a bigger piece of the pie. Ashton Holmes, was very charismatic, and his character should have been delved into more. After watching this modest-budget and only 96 minute film with the hurried ending you just feel ripped off at the end. This film, with its nice storyline and top-of-the-line actors, should have been a minimum of 120m in length, had better tension build-up, more in-depth characterizations of Viggo, Bello, Holmes, Harris and even Hurt. And, after watching this nice family go through so much together and rooting for them throughout, a joyful reunion/happier ending was in order. Starting to get tired of Hollywood's 'get lots of good actors / lots of blood & butt/ short & sweet/ lets get out of here and collect the video $$' formula of late. One thing for sure after watching this one: you'll abandon your plans for a career in facial reconstruction surgery.
 Simply Awesome June 11, 2009
THE REAL REVIEW (I'm right here on Earth)
No need to say much since there are hundreds of reviews. Just wanted to chime in and say to all of the people that did not gave this a 1, 2 or 3 star rating must have been watching a different movie.
This was a GREAT movie. Good story line. Excellent directing. Superb acting. Fairly short fim but we get deep in to each character.
Ed Harris was Great, Viggo was Great, Maria was awesome..whoever played the son....William Hurt played a great ending cameo....simply awesome.
I'd give it 6 out of 5 stars if Amazon would let me ;>)
ARAGORN NUDE! May 21, 2009
Stephen Dickensheets (Philadelphia, Pa)
Tremendous! I am glad to watch Viggo's growth in film.
He is fast becoming a favorite performer of mine.
The nude sequence?....grow up, it was a tastfully and perfectly proper piece of action that moved the story to its climax.
Bravo, Viggo!
 "Pal Joey?" May 21, 2009
Strawgold (Wyoming)
The movie was recommended to me so I set it up and after about 15 minutes during which the only thing that happened was a naughty sex scene between the lead man,Tom Stahl and his wife, (who has donned a cheerleader outfit to bring back the youthful moment they didn't share together) ; some then-difficult-to-connect conflicts between his wimpy son and some bullies at school - I finally gave it up as a waste of time. Then, the people who recommended it to me found out! They sadly advised me I had not given it enough time, and since I'm always open to rethink an original impression, I looked at it again. This is how I review it after the break point began to allow the concept of the story to come across:
Viggo Mortensen does a credible job as the lead character of Tom Stahl - who is carrying a deep secret around with him, believing he has escaped the curse of his family ties to an unsavory association with a crime family. He is suited to the life, all right, but has rejected it as something he wants to escape. He has successfully suppressed and kept under control the demon within him, but that becomes no longer possible as his past catches up with him; sadly it catches up only because he has done a good samaritan act and his picture makes the paper. It isn't long before his new life begins to come apart at the seams when some old contacts come to town to take care of some unfinished business with the man we now suspect is a Joey, not a Tom.
The heat is turned up and is relentless; his every waking moment is dogged with the knowledge that these two goons are capable of extreme danger to his family in their quest for him. In that regard, Ed Harris carries his role well as the maimed gangster out to exact his revenge, and William Hurt comes in at the end to cap it off as Joey's nasty, sociopathic brother, who has been embarrassed by his little brother's defection.
As his wife begins to tumble to the truth, she is repulsed; another sex scene of an entirely different variety takes place on a stairwell, sans the cheerleading outfit; and the expression of Tom Stahl suddenly reverts to Joey The Bad Boy in one of the best moments of the film; Mortensen pulls it off extremely well there, it's a total transformation flashing openly upon his countenance as he abandons his charade; because all of it is out of control once more and "everybody who matters KNOWS".
The curious connection between the son who suddenly breaks under the bullying and severely beats his tormenter past the point of normal self-defense suddenly becomes more viable in your take about the whole thing too. Blood will tell. "We turn into our parents", and the boy learns the truth about both his father and about himself simultaneously.
The ending is ambiguous; nothing is solved, but nothing has been cut entirely off either. There is a chance, however small, to cling to.
It doesn't say, but I suspect that the cheerleading outfit has been relegated to the mothballs unit.
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