A History of Violence
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
David Cronenberg
Viggo Mortensen
Maria Bello
Ed Harris
William Hurt
Ashton Holmes
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
In the small town of Millbank, Indiana, Tom Stall runs the local diner, while his wife Edie runs a small law practice and rears their two children, teenager Jack and pre-schooler Sarah. Although Jack struggles with teenage angst and a bullying classmate, the family is happy with their uneventful lives, and Tom considers himself a lucky man. One quiet Saturday night, ruthless spree killers Leland and Billy drive into town and enter the diner. The self-effacing Tom allows himself to be bullied into keeping the diner open past closing time, then tells Leland to take what he wants from the till, but when Leland tells Billy to "start" with the waitress, Tom breaks the glass coffee pot against Leland's face, and in the melee that follows, grabs Leland's semi-automatic weapon, then quickly kills him and Billy, despite being wounded in the foot by Leland's knife. When Tom is released from the hospital, he does not like being labeled a hero by the television news programs, which laud him for saving the people in the diner from two spree killers, and consequently shuns a television reporter. A short time later, when Tom returns to the diner, which is crowded with customers and well-wishers, three thuggish-looking men in suits arrive, led by Carl Fogarty, who repeatedly addresses Tom as "Joey" and in a threatening manner, implies that Tom knows who he is because they knew each other years ago in Philadelphia. Edie, who is in the diner at the time, is frightened of the men and calls town sheriff Sam Carney, even though Tom wants to forget about the incident after the men leave. Later, Sam stops Fogarty's Town Car and tells him to leave Millbank, which he says is a nice town that looks after its own, then goes to Tom and Edie's house, where he tells them that Fogarty is a known mob killer, as are his two henchmen. Sam then hesitantly asks Tom if he is in the witness protection program, but Tom denies this and says he does not know the men. Early the next morning, while Tom is in the diner, he sees the Town Car again and, thinking that it is driving toward his house, phones Edie and frantically tells her to grab their shotgun because the men are coming to their house. Despite his wounded foot, Tom runs home, then realizes that he was mistaken about the car. Edie, and especially Jack, are worried about what is happening, but Tom dismisses their concerns. That afternoon, when Edie takes Sarah to buy shoes in the local mall, she panics when Sarah briefly disappears, and is startled to see Fogarty sitting on a bench looking at the child. Fogarty, whose face is badly scarred and missing an eye, says that Joey Cusack did that to him and he wants to speak with Joey. Meanwhile, at his high school, Jack is confronted by fellow student Bobby and two of Bobby's friends, but instead of making a joke of Bobby's taunts, as he had done in the past, Jack explodes in violence and badly beats Bobby. Later, Tom rebukes Jack for his actions, saying that their family does not settle things with violence, but Jack sarcastically responds that, instead, their family kills people. Tom angrily slaps Jack, causing the boy to run off. A short time later, Fogarty and his henchmen show up at the house, with Jack in the backseat of the Town Car. Fogarty orders Tom to come with him or he will start to hurt Jack. Tom tells Edie to get into the house with Sarah as he gradually walks closer to Fogarty, still denying that he is Joey. When one of the thugs reaches for Tom, he suddenly disables the man with martial arts, grabs his gun, then kills another man. Fogarty then wounds Tom, but as Fogarty moves closer to him to fire the fatal shot, Tom whispers "I should have killed you in Philly." Just then, Fogarty is killed by a shotgun blast fired by Jack. That night, when Edie visits Tom in the hospital, she angrily demands that he tell her if he really is Joey. When he does not deny it, she vomits, then refuses to listen to his pleas that he spent three years ridding himself of Joey and was reborn when he met her. She runs away from him, and when Tom returns home from the hospital, he finds that his things have been moved out of their room. Sam comes to the house to say that "things" just do not add up, but when Edie comes home, she calmly assures Sam that Tom is who he says he is, then starts to cry as Tom comforts her. After Sam leaves, Tom continues to hold Edie, but she pushes him away and, rushing up the stairs, screams "Joey" at him. In the stairway, they strike each other, then have rough sex, but afterward, instead of letting Tom kiss her, she pushes him away. That night, while Tom is sleeping on the couch, he is awakened by a phone call from his brother Richie, now a prominent mob boss in Philadelphia. He agrees to Richie's request to meet with him, then drives to Philadelphia, where one of Richie's henchmen takes Tom to Richie's suburban mansion. At first Richie kisses and warmly embraces his younger brother, but in his study, Richie tells Tom that his impetuousness has cost him a lot over the years and he must pay the price. While they talk, Richie's henchman grabs Tom from behind, trying to strangle him with a wire, but Tom puts his hand through the loop and overcomes him, then kills two other henchmen, first striking them with killing blows, then shooting them with the gun he picks up. After Tom runs out of the study, another henchman arrives, and Richie starts to leave the house through the open front door. Tom, however, has not left the house, and catching Richie and his henchman unaware, kills them. Early in the morning, Tom throws his weapon into a pond on Richie's property and ponders his fate. Later, he returns to his home as Edie, Sarah and Jack are eating dinner. After a few moments, Sarah silently sets a place at the table for her father and Jack passes the roast to him as Edie looks at Tom and he expectantly looks toward her.
Director
David Cronenberg
Cast
Viggo Mortensen
Maria Bello
Ed Harris
William Hurt
Ashton Holmes
Peter Macneill
Stephen Mchattie
Greg Bryk
Kyle Schmid
Sumela Kay
Gerry Quigley
Deborah Drakeford
Heidi Hayes
Aidan Devine
Bill Macdonald
Michelle Mccree
Ian Matthews
R. D. Reid
Morgan Kelly
Martha Reilly
Jason Barbeck
Bruce Beaton
Neven Pajkic
Brendan Connor
Nick Antonacci
John Watson
Don Allison
Brittany Payer
Mitch Boughs
April Mullen
George King
Shawn Campbell
Crew
Kevin Alanthwaite
Amanda Alden
Scotty Allan
Kent Alterman
Allan Angus
Aon/albert G. Ruben Insurance Services, Inc.
Lynell Bangs
John Bannister
Ken Barbet
Cassandra Barbour
Patrick Baxter
Debra Beers
Jeff Behlendorf
Chris Bender
Mark Bennett
Barb Benoit
Dennis Berardi
Frenchie Berger
Pierre Berube
Zena Bielewicz
Jon Billings
Darren J. Biro
Deryck Blake
Samuel Bojin
Deirdre Bowen
Russel Bowie
Cale Boyter
Darrell "digga" Branch
Bernie Branston
Josh Braun
Ciara Brennan
Paul Broucek
Daniel Brown
Jim Bruening
Michael Bunt
Paul Burch
Malcolm Byard
Luisa Cabiddu
Chad Camelleri
Carlo Campana
Matthew Campbell
Tim S. Campbell
Fiona Campbell-westgate
Laurie Cartwright
Cast And Crew Entertainment Service, Inc.
Peter Cobbin
Anthony Codd
Rick Coffee
Sean Cohen
John Coles
Christian Cooke
James Coppella
Janet L. Cormack
Elizabeth Cotnoir
Tisha Cowmeadow
Chris Cozens
Neil Crawford
Denise Cronenberg
Joe Curtin
Greg Daprato
Fernando Dasilva
Jon Davidson
Rob Del Ciancio
Tyler Delben
Jack Deutchman
Walter L. Dibacco
Bonnie Dickson
Mike Diltz
William Dobson
Leon Dudevoir
Jennifer Dunnington
Aric Dupere
Stéphan Dupuis
Paul Dzatko
Mikes Eaves
Efilm
Jeff Egan
Tony Eldridge
Karen Elliott
Prudence Emery
Toby Emmerich
Entertainment Clearances, Inc.
Bob Fernley
Neal Flaherty
Danielle Fleury
John Flynn
Michael Foster
Brad Francis
Candide Franklyn
Vic Fraser
Lorne Frederick
Alan Frey
Michael Gabourie
Ray Gabourie
Walter Gasparovic
Glen Gauthier
Daniel Gibson
Luke Gibson
Emily Glatter
Jamie Gould
Alastair Gray
Robin Greavette
Mary Lou Green-benvenuti
Justis Greene
Wayne Griffin
Isobel Griffiths
Kevin Haeberlin
J. Ryan Halpenny
Elspeth Haughton
Ron Hines
Erik Holmberg
Scott Howes
Elaine Hughes
Glenn Hughes
Ryan Hupponen
Matthew Hussey
Henry Ilola
Paul Jefferson
Robert Johnson
Michael K. Jones
Robin Joseph
Scott Kanyuck
Lenita Karhunen
Roger E. Kass
Ryan Keaveney
Norman Kelner
Zameret Kleiman
Gary Kleinsteuber
James Kohne
Alex Kontsalakis
Goro Koyama
John Kurlander
Itsuko Kurono
Greg Laporta
Gordon Lebredt
Jody Levin
Mark Lewandowski
Kelly Lofstrom
Jef Lonn
Brian Lumley
Andy Malcolm
Anna Malkin
Aaron Marshall
Rick Marshall
Andrew Matthews
James Mcateer
Hugh Mccallum
Charles Mcglynn
Chris Mcguire
Matthew Mckenzie
Jason Mclean
Colin Mclellan
Duncan Mcleod
Sarah Mcmurdo
Richard Mcstay
Michael J. Meade
Heather Meehan
Rafal Mickiewicz
Stuart Mitchell
Don Morley
Kevin L. Murphy
Louise Muskala
Chris Navarro
John E. Nelles
Peter Nicolakakos
Anthony Nocera
Frank Norris
Kyle O'connor
Michael O'farrell
Ricardo Olivero
Josh Olson
Thomas Osmond
Jae Pak
André Paquin
Julie C. Paquin
Elizabeth S. D. "duff" Parker
Thomas Pearce
Greg Pelchat
Sandy M. Pereira
Jim Peters
Martha Pike
Christopher Pizzarelli
Paul Prokop
Marc Purdy
Divyo Putney
Catherine Rankin
Joshua Ravetch
Bruce Raymer
Dusty Reeves
Jen Ricci
Christopher Richards
Lauren Ritchie
Carolyn Rohaly
Myles Roth
Dug Rotstein
Moshe Saadon
Kenneth Samaroo
Lalchan Samaroo
Emma Sanders
Ronald Sanders
Film Details
Technical Specs
Award Nominations
Best Adapted Screenplay
Best Supporting Actor
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
During the opening credits, there is a sequence lasting several minutes in which "Leland" and "Billy" ruthlessly kill the proprietor, the maid and the maid's little girl in a motel in the Southwest. In the scenes taking place in Philadelphia, protagonist "Tom Stall" is always addressed as "Joey" or "Joey Cusack." "Carl Fogarty" also only addresses him as Joey.
John Wagner and Vince Locke's graphic novel A History of Violence, which was the basis for the film, was the first in DC Comics' popular Paradox Graphic Mystery series. The second novel in the series, The Road to Perdition, previously was made into the Sam Mendes-directed film of the same title in 2002. The film adaptation of A History of Violence follows the graphic novel's basic story line, but with a number of important differences: Whereas the film offers few details of Tom's early life or the reason why he decided to remake himself, in the graphic novel, one of the book's three chapters, "The Brooklyn Murders," provides a detailed recounting of Tom's early life, as he relates it to "Edie." The film retains the first names of the main characters, but all of the mobsters' surnames have been changed from Italian to various ethnic groups. Tom's surname was changed from McKenna to Stall, and Joey's surname was changed from Muni to Cusack.
Other differences include the fact that Tom was originally from Brooklyn, not Philadelphia, and that the character of "Richie" was changed from Joey's best friend, Richie Benedetto, in the graphic novel, to his brother in the film. The graphic novel gives a more sympathetic view of the young Joey, who was only fourteen when he left Brooklyn. Near the end of the graphic novel, Richie, who has been held prisoner by a mob boss and brutally tortured for more than twenty years, pleads with his childhood friend to kill him, which he reluctantly does.
A plot point from the book which is not used in the film is that, in the graphic novel, Tom is missing a little finger, and when "John Torrino" (called Carl Fogarty in the film) first visits Tom's diner, he is wearing a vial containing the missing digit. This point is an important difference because, in the graphic novel, police identify Tom as Joey by testing his DNA against the finger after Torrino (Fogarty) dies. Two other major differences exist between the graphic novel and the film. The first is that, while in the film Edie turns on Tom and it is unclear at the end of the film if their relationship will ever recover, in the graphic novel, she does not waver in her feelings. Finally, in the graphic novel, it is Edie, not their son "Buzz" (called "Jack " in the film) who saves Tom's life by killing Torrino.
As noted in reviews and news items, A History of Violence was Canadian director David Cronenberg's largest budgeted film to date, costing $30,000,000 to produce. The film marked the eleventh collaboration between Cronenberg and composer Howard Shore, a fellow Canadian. Costume designer Denise Cronenberg, who is the director's sister, previously has worked on several of David Cronenberg's films.
Although most sources, including the film's program at the Toronto Film Festival, stated that it was a U.S. production, the film was shot at the Toronto Film Studios and at other locations in Ontario, Canada. The township of Millbrook, Ontario was the location site of the film's Millbrook, IN. As noted in the onscreen acknowledgments, the film was also shot in the Ontario townships of Scugog, King City, New Tecumseth and Tottenham, as well as the Everton Conservation area outside Toronto. Onscreen acknowledgments were also given to SAAN Stores Lts. and St. John's Rehab Hospital, where various scenes were shot.
As noted in a Daily Variety article, as part of the film's exploitation, cable television channel CourtTV, in partnership with New Line Cinema, broadcast a two-hour block of programming tied to one of the themes of the film, that of someone living a double life. The programming was part of CourtTV's recently inaugurated "Red Carpet Treatment" shows highlighting new films that were topically connected to the channel's law and order theme.
Reviews were almost universally laudatory of the film, with most praising the acting of Viggo Mortensen as Tom and Maria Bello as Edie, in particular. Many reviews pointed out the power of Cronenberg's theme of underlying violence set against a rural American background, with some noting that, for a film with an underlying theme of violence and brutality, there were relatively few short scenes that graphically portrayed violent acts. Although some critics suggested that the film was an indictment of America and its violent history, in interviews, Cronenberg denied that the picture specifically was an indictment of the U.S. or its policies. Several reviews compared the film to classic American Westerns, particularly The Gunfighter, the 1950 Twentieth Century-Fox film directed by Henry King and starring Gregory Peck as a former gunfighter who is trying to escape his violent past life.
In addition to being selected as one of AFI's ten Movies of the Year, A History of Violence received two Academy Award nominations, for Josh Olson for Best Adapted Screenplay and William Hurt for Best Supporting Actor. The film also received two Golden Globe nominations, for Best Picture-Drama and for Best Actress-Drama (Bello). Additionally, Olson was nominated for a Writers Guild Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and he and authors Wagner and Locke were nominated for a USC Scripter award. Hurt also received an L.A. Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor. According to an December 11, 2005 Los Angeles Times news item, the film was also a "close runner-up" to the L.A. Film Critics' Best Picture winner Brokeback Mountain.
Miscellaneous Notes
Winner of the 2005 award for Best Supporting Actor (William Hurt) by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA).
Winner of the 2005 awards for Best Supporting Actor (William Hurt) and Best Supporting Actress (Maria Bello) by the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC).
Winner of three 2005 awards including Best Film, Best Director and Best Canadian Film by the Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA).
Winner of two 2005 award including Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Ed Harris) by the National Society of Film Critics (NSFC).
Winner of two 2005 awards including Best Director and Best Supporting Actress (Maria Bello) by the Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA).
Released in United States Fall September 23, 2005
Limited Release in United States September 23, 2005
Expanded Release in United States September 30, 2005
Released in United States on Video March 14, 2006
Based on the graphic novel "A History of Violence" published by Paradox Press/DC Comics.
Book is the first in the Paradox Mystery line, the second book in the series is "Road to Perdition."
Literary Sale Date 09/12/2002
Released in United States Fall September 23, 2005
Limited Release in United States September 23, 2005
Expanded Release in United States September 30, 2005
Released in United States on Video March 14, 2006
Voted one of the 10 best films of 2005 by the American Film Institute (AFI).
