Viggo Mortensen plays Tom Stalls, a pillar of a small town community who runs a diner and lives a happy and quiet life with his wife (Maria Bello) and two children. But their lives are forever changed when Mortensen thwarts an attempted robbery and is lauded as a hero by the media, attracting the attention of some mobsters (William Hurt and Ed Harris) who believe he is someone else.
A History of Violence is far from one of the best films of 2005. It was pretty underwhelming to watch because I had heard such great things about it. It wasn't a bad movie, just a disappointing one. The story was pretty interesting but it was all just a bit too straightforward and predictable. There really weren't any surprises. However, David Cronenberg does a really good job directing the film. Even the simplest scene had some importance to the message of the film. Every scene was nicely shot, its just too bad that the rest of the film wasn't as good.
The reason the film isn't as good as it should be is because of the acting. Viggo Mortensen gives a very poor performance as Tom. He's very mundane, very wooden, just not right for the role. He was okay in the Lord of the Rings trilogy because he wasn't the main focus. Maria Bello actually gives a decent performance. It wasn't Oscar worthy or anything but still pretty good. Ed Harris gives a rather bland performance. It wasn't bad or anything just a bit too ordinary and I expected more from him. William Hurt gives the best performance out of the entire cast. Too bad he's in the film for about ten minutes. While the performance is pretty good, it didn't deserve an Oscar nomination because it was so short. Ashton Holmes takes the cake for the worst performance out of everyone though. His performance is so unconvincing and wooden. When he wasn't being wooden, he was just very uninteresting and bland. Why did they hire this guy? I could name so many better actors that could have pulled off the role and the role wasn't even complex.
Unfortunately, Ashton Holmes actually gets his own subplot. He plays Jack Stall and lets just say that he isn't the strongest kid at school. He gets picked on constantly by this bully name Bobby. The whole subplot was just a waste of time and it was hard to feel sorry for Jack because his character was so unlikable. Even the scene where he eventually fights back and puts Bobby in the hospital was underwhelming. For the most part, the film was pretty realistic. The fight scenes weren't too bloody or over the top. The screenplay was very good and interesting. The direction was sharp and strong. The score wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. The ending was actually pretty good and strong. I thought it ended the film perfectly even if it was a little unrealistic. The only thing I didn't like about this film was the acting and some of the dialog was really lame and weak. In the end, A History of Violence is worth checking out. It just wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Rating 7.3/10
A History of Violence is far from one of the best films of 2005. It was pretty underwhelming to watch because I had heard such great things about it. It wasn't a bad movie, just a disappointing one. The story was pretty interesting but it was all just a bit too straightforward and predictable. There really weren't any surprises. However, David Cronenberg does a really good job directing the film. Even the simplest scene had some importance to the message of the film. Every scene was nicely shot, its just too bad that the rest of the film wasn't as good.
The reason the film isn't as good as it should be is because of the acting. Viggo Mortensen gives a very poor performance as Tom. He's very mundane, very wooden, just not right for the role. He was okay in the Lord of the Rings trilogy because he wasn't the main focus. Maria Bello actually gives a decent performance. It wasn't Oscar worthy or anything but still pretty good. Ed Harris gives a rather bland performance. It wasn't bad or anything just a bit too ordinary and I expected more from him. William Hurt gives the best performance out of the entire cast. Too bad he's in the film for about ten minutes. While the performance is pretty good, it didn't deserve an Oscar nomination because it was so short. Ashton Holmes takes the cake for the worst performance out of everyone though. His performance is so unconvincing and wooden. When he wasn't being wooden, he was just very uninteresting and bland. Why did they hire this guy? I could name so many better actors that could have pulled off the role and the role wasn't even complex.
Unfortunately, Ashton Holmes actually gets his own subplot. He plays Jack Stall and lets just say that he isn't the strongest kid at school. He gets picked on constantly by this bully name Bobby. The whole subplot was just a waste of time and it was hard to feel sorry for Jack because his character was so unlikable. Even the scene where he eventually fights back and puts Bobby in the hospital was underwhelming. For the most part, the film was pretty realistic. The fight scenes weren't too bloody or over the top. The screenplay was very good and interesting. The direction was sharp and strong. The score wasn't great but it wasn't bad either. The ending was actually pretty good and strong. I thought it ended the film perfectly even if it was a little unrealistic. The only thing I didn't like about this film was the acting and some of the dialog was really lame and weak. In the end, A History of Violence is worth checking out. It just wasn't as good as I thought it would be. Rating 7.3/10