Genre:Crime, Drama
Distributor:Icon Film Distribution
Release Date:18th May 2015 (UK)
Rating: 15
Director: J.C Chandor
Cast:Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, Albert Brooks, David Oyelowo
Buy: [Blu-ray]
From the cover, it's clear that A Most Violent Year is aping classic mob movies, especially with the convenient quote comparing it to The Godfather. So, why the hell am I talking about the DVD/ Blu-ray cover? Well, I think it sums up most of my problems with the film.
A Most Violent Year tells the story of '80s mobster Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac), a “legitimate businessman” trying to remove the quotation marks around that description. He's trying to keep his heating oil business afloat in tough economic times. He is days away from closing a deal on some land that will enable him to expand his empire. At the same time as all this, the Feds are tightening the noose around him and his past shady dealings. To add to everything else, Abel's oil trucks are being targeted by unknown hijackers, leaving his drivers beaten and the truck emptied of their valuable fuel. It's a solid plot, with the film splaying the plot threads out at the beginning and slowly bringing them together and tying them off. It creates intrigue and I was drawn in.
A Most Violent Year is very much a performance movie. Oscar Isaac is seriously effective as Abel. As his surname would suggest, Abel is a very moral man, despite having presumably stepped on his fair share of necks to get to where we join him. I like the fact that Abel seems to lack the conviction that so many of his contemporaries have in abundance. Abel's wife, Anna (a superb Jessica Chastain) has more of a killer instinct than he does and you understand why they work as a couple. There's one scene in particular that outlines this sharply. Whilst driving at night, the Moralesmobile hits a deer. They pull over and get out to attempt to put the injured creature out of its misery. Abel just kind of mills around for a bit before begrudgingly getting a tire iron from the boot of the car. He raises it and Anna calmly shoots the animal multiple times, clearly frustrated by his inaction. It's a fantastic scene and it expresses their relationship dynamic smartly and effectively.
So, onto the bad. The film is clearly influenced by The Godfather, right down to the coloured filters used. Abel and Michael Corleone do have a lot in common, motivation-wise. The trouble is that I felt the film never quite got one of the elements that makes The Godfather films so special. The Godfather films, at least the first two, were about escalation in one form or another. A Most Violent Year sets up all these snares and never pulls the cord. I understand that not every mobster movie has to be the same, but from a storytelling point of view, it's a bit lame. The pacing is at a dull plod throughout. I can respect the film for taking time to let the characters breathe, but Jesus. I was finding parts to be a real slog and the only reason I was sticking around (apart from my complete professionalism) was the thought of more time with Jessica Chastain's awesome, but wonkily-accented Anna.
The one sidestory I liked was that of driver Julian (Elyes Gabel). He's a young man eager to work his way up the corporate ladder like Abel did and there are lots of parallels between them. Nothing is done about this, however and the end of it felt unsatisfying, due in part to this very thing. There's no deep drama vein hit, it's all very superficial.
A Most Violent Year is decent. If you like slow, meandering and ponderous films that look great (and it really does) then A Most Violent Year might be for you. For me, it needed a tighter grip on its themes and motivations as well as a better focus on pacing. Recommended, but not essential viewing or anything.
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