A Most Violent Year

It's 1981 NYC. Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) owns a fuel delivery company that was purchased from his wife Anna (Jessica Chastain)'s father. He's trying to close a deal to buy a fuel terminal. He tries to do things the most right way but it's struggle in a corrupt industry. Somebody keeps hijacking his fuel trucks and driver Julian (Elyes Gabel) is severely injured. D.A. Lawrence (David Oyelowo) doesn't care. He's tasked with cleaning up the industry and has set his sights on Abel. He is charging Abel mostly due to Anna's corrupt father. Abel has to scramble to get the money for the terminal before he loses his deposit.

I love the fact that this is a gangster except Abel is desperately trying not to be a gangster. Also fuel oil delivery is not the usual backdrop but it works. Oscar Isaac does an amazing job. Some may find the lack of action problematic although there is one great car chase scene. I find the concentration on business really fascinating. His need to raise capital is quite intense. It's a different kind of action. It all works.

Chandor (All is Lost) is one of the more prolific young directors working. With AMVY, an adult mystery-drama-thriller, he screams of the classics: tension of French Connection, quiet of Chinatown, and menace of Mean Streets. It's a fantastic period piece that creates an authentic, distinct look at 1980s New York, while tonally replicating films from that era. Is it a bit TOO quiet and a bit TOO slow at times? Yep…but the taut skill on display is too good to ignore. Abel Morales, a successful, hardworking oil company owner, tries to thrive and survive during 1981 NYC, the most violent year in history. Despite this premise, the crime-action is more a successfully imminent background thought than a constant in-your- face presence. As the movie progresses and ultimately gets better, the subtle suspense builds, and each individual incident pushes Morales closer to his breaking point. Isaac shines in the protagonist role, playing one of the coolest characters around: broken yet proud, strong yet vulnerable, decent yet pressed, and shrewdly bad-to-the-bone. I wish Chastain was a bit more up to the task as his ominous, hardly-doting wife, but luckily she's not a huge distraction to the otherwise stellar acting by some of Hollywood's great new talents. Throughout the solid work being done, we are presented with some great things to ponder: wanting the American dream without knowing why; struggling to be successful without becoming corrupt; juggling humility and pride in a world that drains you. Unfortunately the character's relationships with these different questions bring the movie to a bore at times. Mostly though, it manages to be a solid little award-season drama.

This is a movie I often don't recommend to any of my friends because I truly feel it takes someone with a certain level of appreciation for film and the patience to watch this plot unfold. Now I don't mean for that to come off as snobbish, but this is a movie that could easily be cast off as boring by people who are just looking for an entertaining film. However, if you are a person who possess some level of appreciation for film and would like to see a good, albeit slow tale, I would highly recommend this movie.

The first thing of note in this movie is Oscar Issac's performance. He plays Abel Morales, an entrepreneur who runs a fuel company. He is one of Hollywood's best rising stars, and he shows what he's got in this film. He gives a very subtle, even performance that is reflective of his character, and it works very well. Jessica Chastain is also very good as his wife, and her character's primary motivation is her children and their safety. I felt that she really cared about her kids.

I don'y want to go too much into the story because it is a good one. But the fine details of the story is not what matters. It is the intricacy of the characters that is the important aspect of this film. To see how hard Abel will work for his family and his legacy shows the drive of man, and a sort of twisted sense of the American dream.

So I read a lot of complaints about the movie being slow and missing tension and violence. Why? Because of the title? Do the viewers nowadays pick their movies just on title and trailer?

The title is perfect: This movie is all about violence. Every single moment in this film is a consequence of- or triggered by violence. Even all the news broadcasts on the radio are about violence. Abel's business is, as he says "in a rough patch". There are good years and bad years and this one is a particularly bad one. The fact that the movie doesn't feature a lot of violence makes it an even better one as the threat of it is constantly palpable.

As for the tension: my god, what tension did I feel. I won't describe moments, but one particular chase sequence had me biting my nails, and I haven't done that in a very long time. There is constant tension in almost every scene and almost unbearable tension in some. And of course throughout the whole film you keep asking yourself; is he that honest, will he yield, or will he even snap. Oscar Isaac's role as Abel is written and played out so well I can understand the comparisons to Pacino's Michael Corleone in the Godfather. Hell you could even mention the two films in one breath. It has a great classic feel to it, though this is much smaller and more intimate.

A modern classic like: "We own the night" by James Gray or the recent "The Drop" by Michael R. Roskam. Beautiful slow burning masterpieces. This film will stay with me for quite a while. I'll put it away, wait for a rainy day somewhere in winter and experience it all over again. 8/10

First of all let me just say, if IMDb allowed 0.5 votes, this would probably get a 6.5 from me. Where to begin with this one ? Well it's shot well, the cast nail the parts, but from start to finish you are waiting for the film to come to life, and unfortunately it just never does.

Some people will appreciate this film much more than others, but for me it was average at best. The main reason we all watch films and television, is to be entertained, and unfortunately with A Most Violent Year, it feels like we have been left wanting.

You never really get to appreciate 1980s New York, a couple of panoramic skylines don't really cut it. With a bit more substance to the story, better visuals & some period music, this film could & should have been much better.

Sausage1