← Back to Reviews
in
A History of Violence is a disturbing and completely riveting drama that shines a light on several aspects of the concept of violence and its varying effects on the lives it invades.
What appears to be a simple story slowly unfolds to reveal several different layers of a richly textured look at violence on several levels. The film stars Viggo Mortensen as Tom Stall, a small town everyman who owns a diner, is married to an attractive lawyer (Maria Bello)and is the father of two children whose life is changed forever when during what appears to be a random act of violence at his diner one night, Tom kills two people in self-defense and in defense of his business and patrons.
The publicity that surrounds this event shines an unflattering light around Tom which he is clearly uncomfortable with but we're not sure why until a stranger pulls into town claiming that Tom is not who he says he is. Tom denies the allegation but it eventually becomes clear that Tom is actually a former mafioso named Joey Cusack, who has been tracked down by his brother, with whom he has unfinished business.
The slow reveal of this story is quite unsettling because as we watch, we begin to figure out what is going on, but we hope we're wrong. The film not only looks at mob violence, but it also looks at violence as an instrument of self defense; it looks at the possible connection between violence and genetics as Tom's son is observed dealing with a school bully in a rather unsettling way, and it even examines violence between a husband and wife as Tom's world begins to unravel and he attempts to take control of his life again by taking control of his marriage.
Mortenson turns in a complex and evocative performance as Tom/Joey, a quiet man driven to extremes as the new life he has constructed for himself begins to fall apart. Maria Bello gives the performance of her career as Tom's wife Edie, who has had the emotional breath knocked out of her marriage and is at a loss as to how to deal with the fact that her entire existence has been a lie. Ed Harris does a bone-chilling turn as the mobster who tracks Tom/Joey down and, as we learned, was disfigured because of him and William Hurt received an Oscar nomination for his flashy turn as Joey's brother, a performance that gets more interesting with multiple viewings.
A haunting and powerful film experience that will get inside you and eat away at your soul and provide just as many questions as it does answers.
A History of Violence is a disturbing and completely riveting drama that shines a light on several aspects of the concept of violence and its varying effects on the lives it invades.
What appears to be a simple story slowly unfolds to reveal several different layers of a richly textured look at violence on several levels. The film stars Viggo Mortensen as Tom Stall, a small town everyman who owns a diner, is married to an attractive lawyer (Maria Bello)and is the father of two children whose life is changed forever when during what appears to be a random act of violence at his diner one night, Tom kills two people in self-defense and in defense of his business and patrons.
The publicity that surrounds this event shines an unflattering light around Tom which he is clearly uncomfortable with but we're not sure why until a stranger pulls into town claiming that Tom is not who he says he is. Tom denies the allegation but it eventually becomes clear that Tom is actually a former mafioso named Joey Cusack, who has been tracked down by his brother, with whom he has unfinished business.
The slow reveal of this story is quite unsettling because as we watch, we begin to figure out what is going on, but we hope we're wrong. The film not only looks at mob violence, but it also looks at violence as an instrument of self defense; it looks at the possible connection between violence and genetics as Tom's son is observed dealing with a school bully in a rather unsettling way, and it even examines violence between a husband and wife as Tom's world begins to unravel and he attempts to take control of his life again by taking control of his marriage.
Mortenson turns in a complex and evocative performance as Tom/Joey, a quiet man driven to extremes as the new life he has constructed for himself begins to fall apart. Maria Bello gives the performance of her career as Tom's wife Edie, who has had the emotional breath knocked out of her marriage and is at a loss as to how to deal with the fact that her entire existence has been a lie. Ed Harris does a bone-chilling turn as the mobster who tracks Tom/Joey down and, as we learned, was disfigured because of him and William Hurt received an Oscar nomination for his flashy turn as Joey's brother, a performance that gets more interesting with multiple viewings.
A haunting and powerful film experience that will get inside you and eat away at your soul and provide just as many questions as it does answers.