It is less an exploration of violence in America and more of a portrayal of a prototypical alpha male.
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11/01/05
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A History of Violence (2005)
87
%
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Reviews Counted:195
Fresh:169
Rotten:26
Average Rating:7.9/10
Consensus: A History of Violence raises compelling and thoughtful questions about the nature of violence.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Thriller, Comic Book, Theatrical Release
Theatrical Release:Sep 30, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $31,408,459
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... [More]
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, William Hurt, Ed Harris
Director: David Cronenberg
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Reviews for A History of Violence
Never does it deviate from Cronenberg's primal instincts.
10/31/05
... like biting into a sour pickle hidden in the bottom of your ice cream cone... simply fails to deliver what it promises to fulfill another agenda.
10/27/05
Three-fourths of this movie is great, but don't get me started on that ending.
10/26/05
A History of Violence takes nostalgic ideas of the so-called good old days and exposes the truth of human behavior that such rosy views obscure.
10/26/05
I have mixed feelings. Cool, engaging, well acted (William Hurt is brilliant). But could have used a bit more shaving in the editing room and a bit messy on point.
10/25/05
On the surface, this may seem just a violent gangster yarn, but Cronenberg has opened the door to a train of thought that becomes more disturbing the longer you consider it.
10/20/05
a pretty good little thriller, but clocking in at only 95 minutes, it doesn’t have enough meat to be a truly satisfying drama.
10/19/05
[David Cronenberg] no doubt wanted to say something profound about the nature of violence, but his approach betrays his intentions.
10/18/05
Strangely absorbing but extreme and implausible.
10/17/05
Some movies are to be consumed and discarded. History of Violence, a drama of disarming power, is not one of those. This is one of the most stirring films of the year.
10/17/05
Olson should have studied a history of screenwriting before attempting to adapt A History of Violence. One of the most aimless, derivative films to ever be overrated.
10/17/05
A grim exploration of [humanity's] futile attempts to repress the urge for violence.
10/15/05
The plot is really very close to being a 1950s Western plot warmed over. This is a film with good and bad elements, but the good elements I have been familiar in films for almost half a century.
10/15/05
A tense, tight and pithy thriller with such superb restraint that almost every detail matters -- and therefore shouldn’t be spoiled.
10/14/05
Everything Works Here, Save For Casting.
10/11/05
A History of Violence is a fine movie that simply is too intense for many viewers.
10/11/05
Probes our intrinsic attraction to violence with caustic incisiveness.
10/10/05
Sin City with a functioning brain.
10/10/05
This is Sin City with a functioning brain
10/09/05
Latest News for A History of Violence
September 26, 2008:
Paramount Taking Child's One Shot with Olson 
Paramount has hired "A History of Violence" screenwriter Josh Olson to pen an adaptation of Lee Child's "One Shot" novel, about "an ex-Army policeman who...gets tangled up with... More...
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