Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a diner owner that lives in Indiana with his family. All goes smoothly until one night two hitmen enter the place and menace everyone at gunpoint. Stall shoots at them and this small event makes news and he is hailed as an hero. Few days later gangster Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris) comes to the diner with two of his men and tells Tom that he is actually an hitman that was involved with the Irish mob. Tom denies this but Carl and his goons stalk his family. After some confrontations and an accidental shooting Tom confesses to his wife that he started a new life for escaping his past. And Stall has no other choice than go to Philadelphia for visiting his brother Richie Cusack (William Hurt) and demanding peace, but since Richie had problems with the mob thanks to Tom's wanting of a new life, he orders his men to kill him not until Tom has the upper hand (and returns home safely with the usual life).

I am not a huge fan of David Cronenberg but I was curious about this movie for years and when I finally saw it, I could see why it has some sort of cult movie status and it's considered one of his best. The acting is great by all: Viggo Mortensen gives a very compelling performance as a man dealing with a double identity, Ed Harris has a nice supporting role and the late William Hurt, despite being on screen for only less than 10 minutes, is great and I could see why he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The photography and soundtrack were nice and fit well the movie's atmospherer. Sure it has some violent and bloody scenes, but the pros outweighted the cons.

Highly recommended not only for Cronenberg fans but also for thriller fans.

A History of Violence is quite another kind of story altogether! A unique combination of action, drama, suspense, and crime coupled with a suspenseful, intriguing, most interesting, and, at times, even a highly original and touching story. Personally. I think Viggo Mortensen does a spectacular job here in the lead role of Tom Stall, a man who would just as soon have everyone forget completely his dark and violent past! Mortensen (Eastern Promises) is one of the most highly underrated actors working today. More Details and Opinions in just a bit...........

Worth mentioning that I have a personal motive for taking a special interest in his career Here is something I'll bet quite a few of you don't know about King Aragorn.... He is one actor of an extremely select group, who was born into the English language and whose native language is English, but who has managed to acquire a very near-native ability in a second language, Spanish, so much so that he has played convincingly a Native speaker of Spanish in a handful of Spanish language films! Check out his acting filmography here on IMDb!

Just how does this involve me? Well, although I don't appear in films, in any language, I did not speak Spanish until I was 16...and now, after living in Colombia for over a quarter of a century, I usually pass for a native speaker!

VIOLENCE has a lot of other worthwhile things working in its favor. Excellent story and screenplay, plenty of suspense, and mostly outstanding performances turned in by other members of the cast... Especially William Hurt's award winning role. From me...VIOLENCE gets 9 well-deserved Stars!

9*********.... ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

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Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) leads a very normal life. He lives in the Midwest with his wife and kids and works at a local restaurant. By all appearances, he's nothing special. However, one day two murderous sociopaths enter his restaurant and are intent not only on robbing the place but killing everyone, as this is their m.o.. Almost automatically, Tom becomes Rambo...and despite being unarmed, he manages to kill both the killers! Immediately, he's seen as a hero in the community and he makes the news. This should mean nothing bad, right? Well, perhaps not...as soon a disfigured mobster (Ed Harris) arrives in town with his 'friends', and it seems he has unfinished business with Tom....saying Tom's really someone else...an ex-mobster! Of course Tom denies it....and you aren't sure whether or not they are mistaken or if Tom has created an all new life for himself.

While it probably goes without saying, this is a very violent and taut film....and not one to show small kids, your mother or Father O'Malley if he comes over for a visit. Now I am NOT saying it's a bad film or even that it's that gratuitous (though there is a LOT of blood and gore)...but I think it's important I stress to you about the violence so you know what you're getting into when you see the movie.

So is it any good? Yes. It's exciting, tense and intelligently written.