A Most Violent Year (2014)

A Most Violent Year (2014)
D: J.C. Chandor
W: J.C. Chandor
S: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, Albert Brooks, Catalina Sandino Moreno

Yep, I'm still doing reviews of 2014 films. I promise I'll do a review of a 2015 movie sometime in the near future but right now let's take a look at this film.

A Most Violent Year is the latest film from director J.C. Chandor who brought us that marvelous 2013 film All is Lost. A film about a man (Robert Redford) trying to survive out a sea by any means necessary. In this film we see an immigrant man (Oscar Isaac) trying to keep his oil business up and running and protect his family by any means necessary during, apparently, New York City's most violent year statistically (1981). He'll do whatever it takes to do this but he doesn't want to fall into the pit of violence that surrounded him.

Warning: mild spoilers ahead.

I really wish this film got a wider release sooner because if it did this movie would have certainly made my Best of 2014 list. It features a great cast of characters, all of which are supplied with great performances, a moody and creepy atmosphere, and has a smart script that keeps the audience guessing.

One thing about this film that I like is that it doesn't fall into the typical tropes of a usual gangster/crime film. While the topic of a reluctant mobster has been in films, the biggest example being The Godfather (1972, dir. Francis Ford Coppola), the big difference between Abel Morales and Michael Corleone is that Morales manages to keep himself above the line and doesn't go down the road of crime where as Corleone eventually gets involved due to family and his limits being pushed too far.

And before anyone starts: No, this isn't me trashing The Godfather. Okay?

Now this was no easy task for Abel. As the film displays through radio transmissions and news reports that violent crimes are rampant and consistent in this major city.

The film opens up with an example of a violent crime that leads to a whole series of events. A driver of Morales, Julian (Elyes Gabel) gets hijacked and beaten by robbers who take the cargo for their own.

Julian's story line is essentially the opposite of Abel's in the film's plot. After Julian's brutal mugging he has become more afraid and thus arms himself and takes several shots at robbers who attempt to steal from him again. But that makes things much more worse thus sending his life towards a more tragic route.

Now Abel on the other hands, as mentioned before, wants to avoid violence by any means necessary. He knows that the oil industry at this time is kept a close eye on and that any moment of violence could spark an investigation. One that's even bigger than the current one going on.

Abel does try to help Julian throughout the film by any means mainly because I think Abel sees a bit of himself in Julian. But as one would suspect things don't go to plan.

Through those aspects it is apparent that the film has an anti-violence theme and a theme of survival, the latter of which was also a theme of Chandor's previous film All Is Lost.

Another aspect I really like about the film is because while this is a story that is self contained it does give an idea that there's more to this and that this the story will continue with no defining results. In other words while it does give a "happy" ending, there is a sense of things are far from over.

Speaking of the ending I love the fact the film did not try to pull any dramatic twists. There's nothing like, "Oh man! It was *insert character name here* who was stealing the oil!" What a twist!

The performances in the film are amazing to say the least. Each of the major performances adds life to the character and make them even more intriguing. Especially for Abel's wife Anna portrayed splendidly by Jessica Chastain.

The script hints about her past, in that her father was a notorious mobster, but it never fully exposes what it was he did. It's through her performance we gets hints about her past and how she works herself. I'm still baffled how she wasn't nominated for an Oscar.

There's also a lot of great technical aspects as well. There's a great almost film noir like feel to it, the costumes a nicely detailed, wonderful cinematography, and a great score by Alex Ebert

While I'm sure some people will find the film slow I'm also certain that people out there will be able to appreciate the atmosphere it creates and the awesome performances involved.

I can't recommend it enough.

Agree? Disagree? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

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