This is the story of a moderate man named Tom Stall, who lives a good life with his wife and son and becomes a great hero in the town of Millbrook. But one night, their poetic presence faded when Tom foiled a fierce attempt at his restaurant. He senses the danger, he takes action and keeps his clients and friends in the killings in self-defense of the criminals he is looking for. As a hero, Tom's life was changed overnight, attracting a national media circus, which led him to the spotlight. Tom tries to return to normal life in his normal life only.
This peculiarly predictable picture has been calculated, or miscalculated, to set up certain expectations, fulfill them, and then do the same thing again, thereby giving us a chance to see what's coming and, at least in theory, be shocked.
Cronenberg's direction, mirroring the split in Tom, is alternately measured and frighteningly explosive, and, as always, he gives the movie a nasty underlay of sexual perversity.
Metro Times (Detroit, MI)
April 20, 2011
Without conceding any of his iconoclastic vision, Cronenberg has turned a genre film with classic Western overtones into a gripping psychological drama that examines the duality of man and his infatuation with the art of violence.
With A History Of Violence, Cronenberg uses the pulp gangster genre - as opposed to, say, sci-fi horror -- to draw us into a dialogue on our relationship as voyeurs to violence, both real and cinematic.
New York Magazine/Vulture
May 12, 2006
A remarkably convincing examination of heroism, hero worship, and the seductive allure of villainy.
RogerEbert.com
October 07, 2005
The film, based on a graphic novel, has a crackling sense of visual tension.
