A History of Violence

[thedelihaus]

Directed by oddball director David Cronenberg (Crash, Naked Lunch, Videodrome, Scanners), I was very, very impressed with his reserved, straighforward direction (no creative and brilliant but hard to decipher moments here). The acting by Viggo Mortensen was excellent as a totally believable country-simple family man and former (possible) Philly toughneck, while Ed Harris played the perfect tough-as-nails straight-up gangster, and William Hurt pulled off a powerful, cold-blooded, conflicted loving brother and head honcho gangster. All three were exceptional in their depth and soul, and approach on the characters in the film.

Greg Bryk and Stephen McHattie play stunning sociopath killers, also in perfect form.

Maria Bello plays a great role here as well, as passionate, faithful and loving wife, full of her own confusion and conflict.

The son, played by Ashton Holmes, was one of the few weak points in the film. Not a total failure, but just not up to the other performances her, despite glimpses of quality.

Kyle Schmid as the school bully pulls it off effortlessly (though the charactor is about as deep as a wading pool), and Peter MacNeill as the small-town sherriff gets the job done.

All in all, although at times extremely violent, and with moments of gruesome beatings and killing, an excellent case study into the minds, and characters of a good collection of many types of personalities.

Kudos both to the direction of this film, and to the excellent approach of the actors.

Highly recommended, it's a smart, well-done film here.

[Rob Babcock]

I would have to concur- this film is full of wonderful acting and strong writing. Truly excellent. I was fortunate enough to go into this one with little knowledge or preconceived notions of the movie and was very pleased. Maria Bello is a favorite of mine and Viggo Mortensen shows tremendous range and nuance. Truly he's one of the elite actors of his generation; his work runs the gamut from action fare to quirky indie flicks, but he pulls them all off with equal aplomb. Not many actors can manage a convincing portrayal of the duality of his character in this film and have both sides be equally compelling.

[doucanoe]

"A History of Violence" was one of the most memorable movies I have seen in some time. We had not heard of it prior to that but it sounded interesting. I was pleasantly surprised and the acting all around was very good.

RC

[danhagan]

I loved the cheerleader scene. I kept waiting for another one...but the movie was still good!

[Fisherdude]

What a coincidence! A customer at work just this morning was telling me about this film, and raved about it too. Is it available on DVD?

Yes, it is available on DVD.

I, too, enjoyed this film. Although from the trailer, I kind of got the idea that it might be a remake of Cape Fear/etc., it ended up being a completely different film. I liked not knowing what it was about going into it, but would've been even better off if I had not seen the trailer.

[wajobu]

Oh, our elder son has a copy of this DVD and I have been meaning to watch it...since seeing the trailer in the movie theaters earlier this year. Our son is a movie buff (and is an aspiring screen writer/film-maker) and he recommends it highly so I am looking forward to seeing it!

Thanks for the further encouragement and reminder!

Ed Harris is brilliant in almost any role.

[Rob Babcock]

Originally Posted by danhagan

I loved the cheerleader scene. I kept waiting for another one...but the movie was still good!

Oh yeah! Maria Bello is fine. She could really "raise your spirits."

[Fisherdude]

Originally Posted by Dusty Chalk

... but would've been even better off if I had not seen the trailer.

Don't anybody say anything!!

[thedelihaus]

Fisherdude-

Turns out that the whole thing is nothing more than a dream sequence.









Just kidding.













Or... am I?

[soundmotor]

***POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING***















I've seen this film 2x, once on the plane & another as a follow-up. I was pretty underwhelmed when I saw it on the plane but my attention was not fully on the movie. Enough were saying good things about it so I gave it another shot. I was still underwhelmed the second time around. Maybe i was tainted from the first viewing?

I liked the premise & the initial 45 minutes or so but that the film fell flat after a certain sequence involving Ed Harris outside the house with Viggo & his son. I agree that Ed Harris can be the bomb (I was never here). (I was never here either). Are you catching my drift? 1st half good, 2nd half dead. Indeed, 2nd half as if directed by someone else; a discontinuity.

I like Maria Bello & liked her in ER way back when. She didn't bring much to this film for me. Her best work for me was in Payback if anyone recalls that one w/ Mel Gibson.

A History of Violence gets a B as I saw it. Not terrible, not really that good either.

What do you mean 'possible'? That was a 'definite' spoiler.

[soundmotor]

Originally Posted by Dusty Chalk

What do you mean 'possible'? That was a 'definite' spoiler.

That's why I put possible spoiler warning at the beginning of my post separated from my comments by a wide margin. It would give anyone who didn't want to know fair warning before they continued to read what I wrote.

If you didn't want to know how I felt, you didn't have to read it.

No, you did good, I just questioned your qualifier -- "spoiler warning" would've been adequate.

[soundmotor]

Originally Posted by Dusty Chalk

No, you did good, I just questioned your qualifier -- "spoiler warning" would've been adequate.

Other than I didn't like the movie, I don't think I gave away the actual plot point I was alluding to. At least I didn't mean to. Believe me, I was as surprised as anyone when Ed Harris opened his shirt up & you could see the Wondebra underneath.