Movie Review: A History of Violence

We saw "A History of Violence" starring Viggo Mortensen yesterday, which we checked out from the library. First let me say, do not even think about watching this movie with kids anywhere around. I knew it would be violent from the title, but we're talking brutal, graphic violence. There is also a very graphic sex scene. In many ways, this movie reminded me of "The Secret Window" with Johnny Depp because it involves split personalities.

My husband thinks it is a cop-out when movies blame mental disorders for a character's behavior. The movies don't really go into detail about it, they just have the character start acting like someone else. If they are going to use schizophrenia as the reason, they could at least educate people more about the disorder in the process. I'm not sure if I would recommend "A History of Violence" or not. There were good parts to the movie and it moved along pretty quick. I guess if you like very realistic and gangster-type violence combined with small town living, you might like this movie.