4.5/5 A Most Violent Year Directors try and make movies look “classic” all the time. Some dimly light there movies like Coppola did in The Godfather, some use vintage soundtracks like Tarantino, and some go as far as to shoot their film in black and white. While the “classic” vibe is usually conveyed, none of these films feel truly classic. No quotes. I mean classic in the true sense of the word. J.C. Chandor’s slick and subtle A Most Violent Year looks, feels, sounds, is acted, is directed, and is written like a movie that harkens back to an earlier time; an older time when great movies were made more frequently. Candor may have said he made this, but I am thinking he found this buried in a time capsule for great, lost movies. But of course I am only joking, because fronting A Most Violent Year is two - three, really - of today’s fastest rising stars. Let’s start out by who they are and what they are doing here. Abel Morales (Inside Llewyn Davis’ Oscar Isaac giving off some strong Michael Corleone vibes) is the owner of a company that transports heating fuel to the inhabitants of 1981 New York City. His business is flooded by shady mobsters who protect their circle and steal from any newcomers who are not in said circle. Abel's number one priority is to stay clean and out of this circle. | Director: J.C. Chandor Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo Writer: J.C. Chandor |
Drama ensues, especially when Abel’s firecracker wife Anna (Jessica Chastain, as brilliant and beautiful as always) threatens to get involved. Anna’s father and brother are feared gangsters themselves, and she has no problem pulling the daddy card whenever she feels like her husband is not being “man” enough. Abel’s the kind of guy who admonishes the use of guns, a trait almost unheard of in his industry in early eighties NYC - take a peak at the film’s title. Even his wife does not understand his hesitance. Such restraints (competitors) and pressures (family), combined with a pending investigation fronted by an ambitious cop (Selma’s David Oyelowo) with an agenda all his own, are a few examples of the weights baring down on this immigrant businessman who is trying so hard to stay straight.
Every single movie of this genre - those dealing with mobsters, ambition, morality, family - has a similar hero. No matter how righteous they are on the inside, they will always have a violent outburst. Whether it is an out-of-character action, pent up rage, or the man showing his true colors, this scene is inevitable. That is not Abel. He is as ambitious as the next guy, but he lives by an unbreakable code of morality and honor that ends up getting him into more trouble than not. This simple character detail ends up making all of the difference for the film and its central character.
So no violent outbursts? Boring! Hardly. AMVY has its share of violence, no doubt, but it plays on a whole other level, a level that has not been played since Coppola left the mob game. Like the Godfather movies, there is bloodshed, but there is even more introspective dialogue and character driven moments of silence. It may sound dull to the attention-deficit crowd, numbed by countless Expendables and Taken movies, but this is some thrilling stuff.
And who better to pull of this off than new-school wunderkind J.C. Chandor. The director broke out onto the scene with 2011’s Wall Street drama Margin Call, which he followed with 2013’s All is Lost, a film made even more astounding by the fact that it contains only one actor and virtually no dialogue. Having already achieved so much in such a short amount of time, no body expected him to return just a year later with a third film filled with so much virtuoso talent. If Chandor keeps this up, there is no doubt in my mind that he could become a Great. I praise the man behind the camera, but do not let me get you to thinking that AMVY is simply a rung on a ladder. This is a wonderfully constructed, meaningful film that should be seen. With the film opening wide tomorrow, you can do just that.
p.s. Don’t forget that A Most Violent Year ranked tenth on my Best of 2014 list.
Every single movie of this genre - those dealing with mobsters, ambition, morality, family - has a similar hero. No matter how righteous they are on the inside, they will always have a violent outburst. Whether it is an out-of-character action, pent up rage, or the man showing his true colors, this scene is inevitable. That is not Abel. He is as ambitious as the next guy, but he lives by an unbreakable code of morality and honor that ends up getting him into more trouble than not. This simple character detail ends up making all of the difference for the film and its central character.
So no violent outbursts? Boring! Hardly. AMVY has its share of violence, no doubt, but it plays on a whole other level, a level that has not been played since Coppola left the mob game. Like the Godfather movies, there is bloodshed, but there is even more introspective dialogue and character driven moments of silence. It may sound dull to the attention-deficit crowd, numbed by countless Expendables and Taken movies, but this is some thrilling stuff.
And who better to pull of this off than new-school wunderkind J.C. Chandor. The director broke out onto the scene with 2011’s Wall Street drama Margin Call, which he followed with 2013’s All is Lost, a film made even more astounding by the fact that it contains only one actor and virtually no dialogue. Having already achieved so much in such a short amount of time, no body expected him to return just a year later with a third film filled with so much virtuoso talent. If Chandor keeps this up, there is no doubt in my mind that he could become a Great. I praise the man behind the camera, but do not let me get you to thinking that AMVY is simply a rung on a ladder. This is a wonderfully constructed, meaningful film that should be seen. With the film opening wide tomorrow, you can do just that.
p.s. Don’t forget that A Most Violent Year ranked tenth on my Best of 2014 list.