Review of A History of Violence (2005) by Josh W — 29 Jun 2013
Maybe it's just me, but this film feels dated and like a bare-bones drama. Most of the acting seemed overacted at times with some awkward dialogue choices, and nothing really stood out as far as writing goes.
Ed Harris and William Hurt killed it in their roles, but the other characters just didn't have any personality whatsoever. I just didn't seem to care about Viggo Mortensen's character or Maria Bello's character.
As for Ashton Holmes, I felt he did a great job, but his subplot really seemed to go nowhere for me. I haven't seen any Cronenberg films other than this, but I can recognize his fondness for absurdly gory moments based on his previous work on science fiction and horror.
It truly does stand out in a film such as this, which I thought really showed how nasty violent situations such as ones displayed in the film can really be, and I did like the film's ending. I just wish the acting and characters were more convincing, and I wish the film was a lot longer than it was.
I don't feel like there really was enough to go on. Otherwise, it's a passable drama.
This review of A History of Violence (2005) was written by Josh W on 29 Jun 2013.
A History of Violence has generally received very positive reviews.
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