A History of Violence: Synopsis
Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is living a happy and quiet life with his lawyer wife (Maria Bello) and their two children in the small town of Millbrook, Indiana, but one night their idyllic existence is shattered when Tom foils a vicious attempted robbery in his diner. Sensing danger, he takes action and saves his customers and friends in the self-defense killings of two-sought-after criminals.
Heralded as a hero, Tom's life is changed overnight, attracting a national media circus, which forces him into the spotlight. Uncomfortable with his newfound celebrity, Tom tries to return to the normalcy of his ordinary life only to be confronted by a mysterious and threatening man (Ed Harris) who arrives in town believing Tom is the man who's wronged him in the past. As Tom and his family fight back against this case of mistaken identity and struggle to cope with their changed reality, they are forced to confront their relationships and the divisive issues which surface as a result.
A History of Violence is directed by acclaimed filmmaker David Cronenberg (Crash, Spider, Dead Ringers) from a screenplay by Josh Olson. The film stars Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, Hidalgo), Maria Bello (The Cooler), William Hurt (The Village, Oscar-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ed Harris (Pollack) and Ashton Holmes.
The film is produced by Chris Bender and JC Spink of Benderspink (The Butterfly Effect, Monster-in-Law) with Justis Greene, Roger E. Kass and Josh Braun serving as executive producers.
The motion picture shot in Toronto and in various countryside locations, including Millbrook, Ontario for 11 weeks from September through to November 19th, 2004.
New Line Cinema will release A History of Violence on September 30th, 2005. The film will make its world premiere at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival in May.
Heralded as a hero, Tom's life is changed overnight, attracting a national media circus, which forces him into the spotlight. Uncomfortable with his newfound celebrity, Tom tries to return to the normalcy of his ordinary life only to be confronted by a mysterious and threatening man (Ed Harris) who arrives in town believing Tom is the man who's wronged him in the past. As Tom and his family fight back against this case of mistaken identity and struggle to cope with their changed reality, they are forced to confront their relationships and the divisive issues which surface as a result.
A History of Violence is directed by acclaimed filmmaker David Cronenberg (Crash, Spider, Dead Ringers) from a screenplay by Josh Olson. The film stars Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, Hidalgo), Maria Bello (The Cooler), William Hurt (The Village, Oscar-winning Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ed Harris (Pollack) and Ashton Holmes.
The film is produced by Chris Bender and JC Spink of Benderspink (The Butterfly Effect, Monster-in-Law) with Justis Greene, Roger E. Kass and Josh Braun serving as executive producers.
The motion picture shot in Toronto and in various countryside locations, including Millbrook, Ontario for 11 weeks from September through to November 19th, 2004.
New Line Cinema will release A History of Violence on September 30th, 2005. The film will make its world premiere at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival in May.
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Daveactor7
@NAME yeah um sdfu
1 year agoby @daveactor7Flag
Dan
F*cking great movie. @NAMEGOESHERE So all you took away from the film was a brief sex scene? Yep, that is the masses for you, always focusing on the superficial sh*t. Sorry I'm 2 years late answering you.
1 year agoby @dan1Flag
NAME GOES HERE
still no one dares to respond to my comment - come on, i don't mean to intimidate, i just want some F'n answers!
4 years agoby @pinget-69Flag
NAME GOES HERE
At the risk of being crucified by the MovieWeb community, I will be honest:
this is without doubt the most overrated film i have ever seen: everyone spoke highly of it, particularly following its various award nominations, so i recently decided to see it.
It left me only with 2 thoughts:
1. David Cronenberg is gifted at making subtle pornos (the 'cheerleader' and 'staircase' scenes)
2. I will never get that hour and a half of my life back.
When i ask others why they liked it so much they say that they loved the level of tenseness as Viggo was constantly put under pressure - as tense as it was and as good as Viggo's acting was, that movie felt to me as if it were in a loop "come on Joey, we know it's you", "come on Joey, we know it's you", "come on Joey, we know it's you", etc.
I am by no means someone that is not a fan of subtle acting and tense films (i loved No Country For Old Men) but i strongly disliked this film.
Maybe i am ignorant of something or maybe my expectations were too high but can someone point out to me where that movie's greatness was?
much appreciated,
Name Goes Here
4 years agoby @pinget-69Flag