Review: A Most Violent Year

 Set in New York in the winter in the early 80s, Oscar Isaac stars as an oil distributor. He has also just put a deposit on a property for his business, and if he can’t pay the rest in 30 days, he’ll lose the property. Meanwhile, it appears his competitors (the industry in this town appears run by families/factions) are unhappy with Isaac’s presence and try to hijack his delivery trucks and make sinister threats to he and his family. Isaac claims to run a clean business, but local assistant D.A. David Oyelowo is sceptical and seemingly always lurking about. That’s not going to make him look so hot to the bank, especially if Oyelowo should find something even vaguely incriminating. It probably doesn’t help his image that he’s married to Jessica Chastain, a mobster’s daughter who is the company’s CFO. Chastain, by the way, occasionally offers to make calls to ‘help’ the situation, offers continually rejected by Isaac. Albert Brooks plays Isaac’s chief legal counsel, whilst Alessandro Nivola plays perhaps his only friendly competitor (or is that just a front?), and Jerry Adler plays a Jewish elder whom Isaac has dealings with.

 

Oscar Isaac offers up yet another rock-solid performance in this 2015 film from writer-director J.C. Chandor (“Margin Call”, “All is Lost”). Gee, he’s a bloody good actor, isn’t he? In fact, none of the performances are poor, even though I still find Jessica Chastain far too fragile-looking to convince in tough/hardened roles. She just looks brittle to me, yet she always gets these tough roles for some reason. It has ugly cinematography by Bradford Young (“Selma”) that I didn’t take to, and I don’t think Chandor’s script has enough clarity for my liking, but it’s still a good film overall. It’ll remind you a bit of films of the 70s in some ways (it could’ve starred a young Nicholson, Pacino, or De Niro), but it actually takes place in the early 80s. Like the recent “God’s Pocket”, it just feels like the kind of film American directors were coming out with in the 70s like “Five Easy Pieces”, “Bloodbrothers”, “Serpico”, “Blue Collar”, etc.

 

I liked the shades of grey to the characters, where even the main character played by Isaac has some questions hanging over him, morally and ethically. I liked all that, at least up to a certain point (David Oyelowo’s character is especially…complex). I just wish that there was more clarity to the situation. I’m not terribly well-versed with business practices in the oil business in the early 80s New York, but I wasn’t sure why the business was so fraught with danger. And whilst I liked that there was some doubt as to just how dirty/clean Isaac’s character is (or at least those in his employ), by the end of the film I was hoping to have had that cleared up for me, and I never felt quite satisfied there. Isaac keeps insisting that he runs a legit business, yet Oyelowo keeps hanging around, and even Isaac seems somewhat suspicious that someone (probably his wife) knows more than they’re telling him (and possibly because he has told them that he doesn’t want to know. Like I said, it never was entirely clear to me. Or perhaps the corruption/illegality stems from Chastain’s father, the previous owner of the business). Having said that, it doesn’t prove fatal to one’s enjoyment of the film, actually. In fact, the murky cinematography for me was the only real problem getting in the way at times.

 

Whether I understood the ins and outs of the situation or not, the film does convey a sense of danger and paranoia very enjoyably. It’s interesting how even though it’s about something completely different, the film actually reminded me of a problem gambler movie. Isaac’s financial situation is so dire that it reminds one of a problem gambler who has a short amount of time to get the cash together to pay the big mob-connected casino he owes a shitload of money to. The beats are very similar, and you keep waiting for Alec Baldwin or Robert De Niro to turn up with a baseball bat or some brass knucks. This guy’s under a shitload of pressure, and although it’s very possible he could lose some limbs or even his life like a problem gambler in trouble with a mob-run casino, this guy could also get thrown in prison for improper business practice as well.

 

Although I’d rank this as one of Jessica Chastain’s least annoying performances to date, she still gets upstaged by everyone else here, especially Isaac, and the very fine Albert Brooks (very serious and grim-faced), the recently ubiquitous Alessandro Nivola, and even veteran Jerry Adler. He is terrific, despite being made up to look a bit of a ridiculous stereotype.

 

This horribly-lensed, but well-performed film manages to be pretty enjoyable, even though you wish it were a little more forthcoming with certain details and motives. Isaac is excellent, and there’s top support from Nivola, Adler, and a very dour Albert Brooks in particular. A little frustrating at times, but it’ll grip you by the end. Chandor is yet to wow me as a director, and this isn’t his best, but he’s still 3-0 so far.

 

Rating: B-