A History of Violence, directed by David Cronenberg, has been hyped as a paradigm of violence in America. Instead, the film could be called "Godfather IV," that is, a film about a member of the mafia who tries to go straight. But that would deprive filmviewers of a surprise about two-thirds of the way through the movie. Anyway, the film begins in Millbrook, Indiana, a mythical small town supposedly near Indianapolis (filming is in Millbrook, Ontario). Tom Stall (played by Viggo Mortensen) runs a small café along with his wife, Edie (played by Maria Bello), and a chef; he has a young daughter, Sarah (played by Heidi Hayes), and a son, Jack (played by Ashton Holmes), a high school student. One day, two gangsters arrive in town to find easy money. When they try to hold up the café, Tom outmaneuvers them and shoots them dead. His heroic deed bring him fame across the country, and he even inspires Jack to beat up two school bullies who have been terrorizing him. However, Tom's existence in Millbrook is now known in Philadelphia, where Carl Fogerty (played by Ed Harris) and two henchmen get in a limousine and drive, destination Millbrook, to look up Tom, whom they call Joey Cusack. Evidently, Joey Cusack roughed up Fogerty in the City of Brotherly Love, leaving his face scarred and his eye damaged. Fogerty now wants to settle a score. When he kidnaps Jack, Tom goes into action, and two of the three gangsters are killed, though Fogerty still has a gun and targets Tom. Just then, Jack saves the day by shooting the family rifle, and Fogerty dies. Although Tom at first appeared to have luck in foiling the two out-of-town goons, now his martial skills raise his wife's suspicion. Tom's response is to rape his wife on the stairway. While sleeping on the couch that night, he receives a telephone call from his brother Richie (played by William Hurt) in Philadelphia, who wants to see him. Rather than continuing to sleep in the living room, he drives to Philadelphia (the filming is now in Toronto) to see his brother, who in turn has a score to settle with him. Tom overpowers Richie's thugs, and more bodies pile up. Tom (or Joey) then drives back to Millbrook, and in the final scene the question is whether his family will accept him back as Tom. MH
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