A History of Violence movie

A mild mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence which sets off repercussions that will shake his family to their very core.

A History of Violence is a graphic novel written by John Wagner and illustrated by Vince Locke, originally published in 1997 by Paradox Press and later by Vertigo Comics, both divisions of DC Comics. It is also the source for the film of the same name directed by David Cronenberg, the first cinematic adaption of a work by John Wagner since 1995s Judge Dredd.SynopsisThe story concerns a small town Michigan cafe owner, Tom McKenna, who becomes a local hero after defending his store from an attempted robbery. When his story receives national attention, several members of the New York City Mafia arrive in town, believing him to be someone named Joey, who crossed them 20 years earlier. Whilst Tom protests his innocence to everyone, eventually his façade is dropped and he is forced to reveal his history of violence to his wife and son.Namely, he and his friend performed a spectacular assassination and robbery of mobsters in their youth in retaliation of a murder of a relative.

Unfortunately, Toms friend foolishly decided to flaunt his booty, which allowed the mob to identify him as one of the assailants and abduct him for revenge. Meanwhile, Tom barely escaped the same fate and fled the city with the intent of starting over with a new identity.Film adaptationIn 2005 the novel was adapted into a film starring Viggo Mortensen. The film takes many liberties with the story - the main characters name is Tom Stall, he lives in Indiana and the gangsters pursuing him are from Philadelphia, and the character of his brother, played by William Hurt, is significantly different from the corresponding character in the graphic novel - but these changes have not attracted the same degree of criticism as the changes for film adaptations of such graphic novels as V for Vendetta.

All A History of Violence trailers available on youtube

A History of Violence Cast

• Aidan Devine
• Ashton Holmes
• Bill MacDonald
• Deborah Drakeford
• Ed Harris
• Gerry Quigley
• Greg Bryk
• Heidi Hayes
• Kyle Schmid
• Maria Bello
• Peter MacNeill
• Stephen McHattie
• Sumela Kay
• William Hurt