"In his first of many collaborations with the director, Viggo Mortensen stars as Tom Stall, a family man whose dark past in organized crime comes to light after he literally leaps into action to prevent two would-be robbers from terrorizing his diner. The lethal force and efficiency with which Tom dispatches the assailants makes him a local hero in his idyllic corner of small-town Indiana, but it also unsettles his facade of normalcy."
"Adapted from the graphic novel of the same name by John Wagner and Vince Locke, originally published by two imprints of DC Comics, A History of Violence is a film fascinated by the psychology of this character, who is indeed running from himself but has also inhabited his new life to such a degree that calling it a cover would be incorrect."
A History of Violence follows Tom Stall, a family man whose hidden violent history emerges after he thwarts a diner robbery and becomes a local hero. The community acclaim exposes fissures in his domestic identity, creating sexual and aspirational reactions within his family while also inviting danger. A menacing gangster accuses Tom of being Joey Cusack, a former mob hitman, forcing the family to confront conflicting truths. The film adapts a graphic novel and emphasizes psychological complexity, portraying a protagonist who authentically inhabits two selves. Viggo Mortensen's performance embodies unsettling physical and existential duality and drew critical acclaim.
Read at Inverse
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]