A History of Violence Review Country : USA Year: 2005 Genre: Thriller Format: Theater Running Time: 96 mins Distributor: Newline Cinema Cronenberg is considered a heavyweight as far as horror movies go. He delves back into thriller for this title, no less with a huge cast in place... Credits Directed by David Cronenberg. Written by John Wagner (graphic novel) and Vince Locke (graphic novel) Starring Vigo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt and Ashton Holmes. David Cronenberg's latest, A History of Violence may very well be his best film ever. It's disturbing, sensual, violent, and loving all at the same time. Based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke, A History of Violence is the tale of Tom (Viggo Mortensen) Stall. Tom is a loving family man and well-respected citizen of a small Indiana town. But when two savage criminals show up at his diner, Tom is forced to take action and thwart the robbery attempt. Suddenly heralded as a hero who took the courage to stand up to crime, people look up to Tom as a man of high moral regard. But all that media attention has the likes of mobsters showing up at his doorstep, charging that Tom is someone else they've been looking for. Is it a case of mistaken identity or does Tom have a history that no one knows about? Either way, someones about to find out if there's a history of violence. (plot summary from IMDB) Mortensen pulls off another great role here, but it's a far cry from Lord of the Rings, and a little closer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3. That is, if Tex had lived and became a God fearing Christian man. Viggo Mortensen has an extraordinary physical presence which makes the violent scenes convincingly punishing. His character is so unremitting in his earnestness as he faces off with gangster Carl Fogarty played by Ed Harris who is awesome in the role. (and creepy as hell) His sense of protection over his family can really be felt, and being a family man myself, I have to say that I would do the same. Whatever it takes to preserve your family and the peaceful way of life that every man, woman, and child on this earth deserves. Maria Bello plays his wife Edie, and does a great job. Newcomer Ashton Holmes as his son Jack also does a great job as he transforms from the dorky kid who cleans up with words, to a violent product of his environment. William Hurt as gangster brother Richie is great, but then again, he is always great. Cronenberg is such a great director and like I said in the first place, I think this is his best film to date. The pacing is excellent, and while it was lensed in Canada... I found myself truly believing this took place somewhere in the heartland of middle America. The real question raised by this film is can you avoid violence at all costs? The answer is not so difficult to discern: No matter what you have done in your past, it will come back to haunt you. You reap what you sew and yatta, yatta, yatta. A History of Violence is a barely veiled allegory of the ideology behind America's current 'shock and awe' attitude. The values of today's US family are literally brought home by the Cronenburg opus - although whether such values are being jingoistically endorsed or hilariously satirized is never really clear. A History of Violence arrives with the Pit of Horror seal of approval. OFFICIAL SITE DISCUSS ON OUR FORUMS Review by John Gray, for Pitofhorror.com