Watching A History of Violence is an exercise in patience that is rewarded with some terrific performances. Surprisingly, a big part of that is unexpected talent from Lord of the Rings vet Viggo Mortensen. I've seen him in miscellaneous movies, but usually in throw-away roles requiring zero acting ability. This time around he turns in a carefully crafted performance of measured subtlety that salvages an otherwise predictable film.
Oh yeah... there's also nifty left-field roles for Ed Harris (spooky!) and William Hurt (12 shades of crazy!).
As the title suggests, there are moments of gross-out violence that are only partially gratuitous. I suppose you could argue they are necessary to put the characters into context, but I'm not quite convinced. I thought the movie Crash had more to say, but A History of Violence is still noteworthy. The story revolves around an apparently meek and mild diner owner who has a shocking and violent run-in with armed robbers. Once he becomes a local hero things start to escalate out of control. The plot-holes and completely unrealistic ending aside, it's worth a look when it hits video.
Speaking of violence... people who can't shut the f#@% up during a movie shouldn't go to movies in the first place. One of these days I'm going to be sitting in front of a rude talker and they're going to end up DEAD DEAD DEAD!! If I would have killed the dumbass, I wonder if he could appreciate the irony of dying during a film with "violence" in the title? I sincerely doubt it.
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Oh my gosh-second to be put to death in the theater are people who brings their infants with them and let them cry in the auditorium for five minutes before they finally decide to get up and take them out into the lobby. Choking them to death with the strap of their diaper bag seems appropriate, and you don’t need any extra tools…
Sadly, I haven’t seen either of the movies you’re talking about here, but I must say that I’ve heard a lot of good things about Crash. I guess I’m gonna have to watch that one at some point, and being that I don’t get out to the movies too often, I’ll be waiting for A History of Violence to come out on video. I must say I have to agree with you about stupid people talking or being loud during the movies, but you left out a few other annoyances. What about the people who bring their crying infants to movies? Then there are the people who aren’t considerate enough to turn off their phones during the movies, or even worse, the ones who insist on talking on the phone while you’re trying to watch the movie! Ugggh! I’m mad just thinking about it!
HEY! I feel gipped (sp?)! Anytime you talk about killing someone, you usually accompany it with a cartoon you performing the deed. I would love to see ToonDave killing someone in a theater.
In the words of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, “Make it so!”
or not. Whatever. 😉
More likely, you’ll wind up going postal on the moviegoing doppelganger to Robert Mitchum in “Cape Fear” (Or DeNiro, in the sucky later version, if you must), and getting your OWN butt DEAD DEAD DEAD! Stay cool-headed, bro.