This is not a series of books I've read...and truthfully, although I'll probably hunt them up now that I've seen the movie, I expect not to like them as well as the movie...because they're probably just like the plot of the movie but drawn out much longer.

And the best thing about this movie is that, like Good Night, and Good Luck., it doesn't waste time or film on extraneous material...it's only 96 minutes long, and uses every one of them well.

Viggo Mortenson (NOT a honey except in the Lord of the Rings movies) runs a diner in a small town in Indiana, has a wife and kids, and is perfectly happy with his life...until an act of violence changes him, his life, and his family's lives, completely.

Yes, it's violent. Yes, the sex scenes get pretty wild (ouch!) although as one reviewer on IMDB said in response to complaints about these two things, it's David Cronenburg, what do you expect? Even more telling: the title is A History of Violence, and it's from a graphic novel (aka comic book, as Mr. Otter never gets tired of saying in a scathing voice) and they ain't for kids no more.

This was riveting, very very well done, and the best part was not the violence (although most of that had this otter yelling YES!! rather too loudly, lucky it was a later show) but the relationships between the family members and how things changed between them all after each event. And the ending. How many people would end a movie on such a note. Truly excellent.

I went to see this with the Bird Lady, who loves chick flicks and abhors violence, and although she squealed like a girlie several times, she never quite had to hide her eyes (yay Bird Lady!) and afterwards agreed that it was excellent.

But don't take my word for it. Go see it yourself, you'll be glad you did.