I started watching A History of Violence with no knowledge of the movie, and a bitter vendetta against Viggo Mortensen for the steaming pile of horse shit called Hidalgo. Unless he was slaying orcs again, chances were good that I wouldn’t be impressed.
Well Viggo did one better: instead of slaying the mythical spawn of pure evil, he violently murdered real human beings, which pleased me greatly.
Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a simple family man making a clean living as the owner of a small-town diner. That is, until two murderers come to town, guns ablazing, and attempt to knock over his shop. Stall quickly and violently dispatches the two men, becoming the town hero and the center of unwanted media attention.
The media frenzy over Stall’s heroism is noticed by ominous figures from his past, and Tom is forced to divulge his blood-stained history to a family that loves him and a town that has made him an icon of heroism. Tom must innevitably face and destroy his demons to protect the one’s he loves.
A History of Violence isn’t a tale of redeption. It’s the tale of a bad man trying to force inner-change by surrounding himself with good people, and innevitably this wolf in sheeps clothing shows his true colors. It’s also quite realistic in its violence. For those of you that enjoy campy gore like I do, this movie isn’t it. But Mortensen offers up a character that any scrapper can admire: Tom Stall dishes out beatdowns that would make Chuck Liddel squirm, complete with stomping a man’s trachea and crushing another enemy’s nose into his brain. He’s a killing machine by his very nature, not by Yuen Wo Ping’s wire-fighting team.
The movie isn’t all violence and mayhem. Tom Stall and his wife Edie (Maria Bello) have some sensual love scenes towards the beginning of the movie. Then again, they also have some rough-and-rowdy hate fucking later so, perhaps I stand corrected.
In summary, I highly reccommend A History of Violence. It has love, hate, sex, violence, and every combination thereof.
March 21st, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Ninja Man,
Sure there may have been some parts where I just wanted to shoot the writer. Such as: mid movie where he calls his wife from the restaurant and tells her to get the shotgun! She fumbled with the shotgun shells as he ran out of his restaurant, eight miles up the road just as she loads the gun! He’s one fast nigger!
What you fail to mention about the movie is the randomness. Movie starts with two gun crazed killers and the next second they got there skulls blown out……there goes the story on them………It’s a lot of twists without an overkill of twists. The people you expect not to get whacked and expect to become key players in the movie are nothing but mere pawns in a chess game.
-MrUnknown
March 21st, 2006 at 7:18 pm
Yeah dude, I just watched it last night and was really kicked in the ass by how good it was. And in breaking news, it was just announced yesterday that Quentin Tarantino will be doing another film festival in Austin, Texas at the end of next month. I think you’re the only person I know that could sit there and watch sick fucking movies all night for a week and love every second as much as me. So what I need you to do is tell me there’s no way in hell you could make it so I can stop dreaming about it. But you can still check it out at http://www.tarantino.info
March 23rd, 2006 at 12:27 am
Mr. Unknown,
You’re right on in regards to the randomness in A History of Violence, but I think was more method in the madness than meets the eye.
The two thieving murderers that show up at Stall’s diner are placed there for a purpose. Tom Stall violently ends the lives of these two criminals in the blink of an eye. Thus ends the involvement of two seemingly important characters, but what have we learned? That Tom Stall is more badass than they could ever hope to be, and he’s the one the movie is about.
In regards to his eight-mile sprint on a wounded foot to save his wife and children, I’ve got nothing to defend it except this: did you check out his wife? She’s pretty hot. I get winded walking up a flight of stairs, and I probably could have made that run to save her sweet ass. Just a thought
March 23rd, 2006 at 6:04 pm
Ninja Man,
I stand corrected! Those two murders and all the tough mob guys did show how bad he was…even “tough brother Richie” that everyone feared ( I think that was his name)..Blink of an eye they are all dead……..he is one bad ass mother f’er.
I must also agree with you. In the time it takes for her to load the gun. I think I could have ran through town, another eight miles, up the driveway in the time it takes her to load the gun. I mean the scene with her in a cheerleading outfit……….hell, I could have ran to California in 5 minutes for that piece of ass!!
-MrUnkown