Synopsis for
A History of Violence (2005) More at IMDbPro »

A History of Violence start out in front of a quiet, rural motel in what looks like midwest farmland. A couple of men, Leland Jones and William 'Billy' Orser (Stephen McHattie and Greg Bryk) leave the room and make small talk while one goes in to "check out". At this point, the only strange thing is that these two men look like unlikely traveling partners. Leland is over fifty, while Orser is in his twenties. Perhaps they are a couple? Apparently not, because when Leland comes out of the office, he calmly asks Orser to fill up the water bottle they are carrying in the car. When Orser goes into the office to do this, we see the motel clerk and housekeeper dead on the floor in a pool of blood. We see just how cold blooded these two murderers are when Orser shoots the motel clerk's young daughter who appears from behind a door looking scared.

Meanwhile, we meet Tom Stall, a friendly diner owner, his attractive wife Edie, an attorney, and their children. Tom and Edie are very deeply in love and dote on their children. Everybody in the diner appears to be your stereotypical friendly, salt of the earth, small town types. The only unpleasant character we see in the entire town is Bobby, an insecure bully at the local high school who is aching to start a fight with Tom's son, Jack. While Jack is no wimp, he clearly doesn't have the heart for violence and declines to succumb to Bobby's taunts.

That night, Bobby and his buddy are driving around, obviously bored, when they spot Jack and his girlfriend, Judy Danvers (Sumela Kay) sitting on a corner smoking a joint. As they begin to drive over, presumably to taunt the couple, they almost collide with a pickup truck. Bobby gives the finger to the passengers but quickly backs down when he sees the looks on their faces. These are Leland and Orser who glare at the two high schoolers with a look that implies "you're about to make a big mistake." The killers then go to the diner while Orser rants about how he is "sick of these damn podunk towns and the damn podunks in them." Although the diner is closing, the killers calmly walk up to the counter, sit down and politely ask for coffee. When told that the cafe is closing, Leland demands coffee in a much less polite fashion. Tom, always diplomatic, agrees. When the waitress, Charlotte (Deborah Drakeford) is about to leave at the end of her shift, Orser grabs her, forces her into a chair and orders her not to move.. Tom tries to resolve the situation by offering all the cash in the register, Leland pulls his gun and says he knows the money is his, then tells his partner to kill Charlotte in order to show Tom that they mean business. Seeing that the men mean killing, Tom smashes a pot of hot coffee into Leland's face, leaps over the counter and grabs Leland's gun, while Orser fires a shot that misses. Tom fires back, and Orser is hit and falls through the door's window. Thinking the situation is under control, Tom forgets about Leland, who, while lying on the floor, pulls a hidden knife and jams it into Tom's foot. Letting out a shriek, Tom shoots Leland through the head, turning his jaw into a mangled, bloody mess.

When the media, who treat Tom as a hero, want to interview him, he declines and goes to the hospital. Fortunately, the injury is relatively minor and merely causes him to limp for a few days. A day later, Tom is back working at the cafe when three well dressed men, who are obviously not local, enter the crowded cafe and sit at the counter. The leader, who wears a suit and dark sun glasses, proceeds to ask for a cup of coffee and calls Tom "Joey." He then proceeds to emphasize the name "Joey" several more times before Tom finally corrects him. Clearly, this man feels he knows Tom, and just as clearly, these men are trouble. When Tom's wife, Edie, gets annoyed at their comments, the leader hands Tom a hundred dollar bill and says, "Now we're paying customers." When Edie threatens to call the police, the men leave.

Next, the men are driving down a rural road when a patrol car pulls them over. Although the Sheriff, Sam Carney (Peter MacNeill), is seasoned and looks like he means business, the three men, especially the leader, appear not the least bit fazed by his implied threats. "We're tourists" and "Keep up the good work, officer," are the leader's replies.

Sam visits Tom and Edie to speak to them about the incident. Sam warns them that these men are mob figures... organized crime from the east coast. He called some contacts in Philadelphia and couldn't get any information on Joey Cusack (the name they called Tom)... but there is a Richie Cusack in Philly... the leader of a crime family.

However, these men have just begun to stalk Tom and his family. After Tom sees their car going in the direction of his house, he limps back to his house and, huffing and puffing, runs in and grabs his shotgun only to find that nobody is coming. Later, the leader of the men, Carl Fogarty (Ed Harris), begins talking to Edie in a mall. Edie defends Tom, and Fogarty simply suggests that she ask Tom about Richie, who Fogarty says is Tom's brother... and to ask Tom, "How come... he's so good... at killing people."

Meanwhile, the same day, Tom's son, Jack, gets confronted by Bobby again and is unable to walk away. Enraged at the continued taunts, Jack suddenly proceeds to seriously beat down Bobby and his buddy, putting Bobby in the hospital. We now see that Tom and his son can be capable of serious damage if they are pushed far enough. Tom and Jack argue over the incident after Jack returns home, and Jack makes a snide remark over Tom's shooting the killers. Tom slaps Jack, who runs out of the house. When Tom sees the men's car pull up to his house, he is surprised to see one of the men step out of the car holding Jack. The leader, Mr. Fogarty, makes it clear that he knows who Tom really is and that Tom has no choice but to get into the car and drive back to Philadelphia to "see some people." Tom agrees, and the men let Jack run into the house. When the men tell Tom to get in the car, Tom suggests that "it would be better if you just leave." When one of the men points a gun at him, Edie watches in horror from the house as Tom proceeds to grab the man's arm, break it, smash the man's nose repeatedly with his palm, and shoot the other man dead. Before Tom can finish, Fogarty shoots Tom in the shoulder and asks Tom if he has anything to say before his brains are blown out. Tom replies, "I should have killed you back in Philly." Fogarty smiles and agrees with Tom. But before he can shoot Tom, he gets a load of buckshot in the back, courtesy of Jack, who had come back outside and retrieved the shotgun. Tom proceeds to look at his son with a glare that further suggests that Tom may have lived a different life "back in Philadelphia." He grabs the gun away from Jack, but then suddenly hugs him in gratitude and to comfort him, as Jack begins to cry.

Edie confronts Tom In the hospital, tearfully begging him to tell the truth. Tom admits that he was in fact a mob hit man named Joey Cusack, but he left the mob life after messing with Fogarty (who we later learn is a 'made man' above any type of harm from any crime family) and became a new man, Tom Stall. Although Edie is naturally horrified and angry at the revelation, she later defends Tom when Sam comes to ask more questions about Fogarty, saying that these mob figures are extremely secretive men and wouldn't come so far into the open unless they were sure he has the right man. Edie defends Tom still, and Sam acquiesces and leaves, though he wiggles a finger in a way that shows he knows they're hiding something.. After Sam leaves, Edie turns away from Tom in revulsion, slapping him and shouting, "Fuck you, Joey!" Tom/Joey pushes her down onto the staircase and they engage in a pretty intense sex scene that contrasts with their more playful/romantic lovemaking in an earlier scene.

Later, in bed, Tom is awakened by a phone call from Richie (William Hurt) himself. Richie makes an implied threat when he says, "Are you gonna come see me, or do I have to come see you?" Tom drives to Philadelphia and meets a young, rough looking guy in a bar. The man drives him to a large mansion where Tom meets a well dressed, confident man who appears very happy to see his "little brother."

After some small talk about Tom's new life, Richie begins telling Tom about all the trouble caused by "Joey's" former actions. Tom, who no longer wants any part of the mob life, asks Richie, "Tell me what I have to do to make things right?" Richie calmly replies, "You could die, Joey," and turns around, so as not to watch the driver as he wraps a twine garrote around Tom's throat and tries to strangle him. Unfortunately for this man, he doesn't know just how dangerous an adversary Joey can be and Tom/Joey blocks the garrote with his hand, uses his foot to push backward off of Richie's desk and proceeds to kill the driver and two other hit men with his bare hands. Thinking that Joey has run out the door, Richie goes out to find him and is surprised when Joey gets the jump on him and shoots Richie in the head. Finally, Tom/Joey drives back home and finds his family starting to eat dinner. Looking exhausted, he sits at the table. His daughter Sarah sets a place for him as Edie lowers her head and appears to be praying. Finally she looks back up at Tom, tears starting to run down her face. Tom looks back at her with a grieved expression. Tom and Edie look at each other in a way that shows that their relationship has changed and will need considerable mending... but there is hope for them to still have a future together.