Review of A Most Violent Year (2014) by Jason B — 18 Oct 2015

There is a twitter account which share peculiar amazon reviews that are a touch ridiculous. One of my favorites said that A Most Violent Year was not violent enough. That person doesn't get it, and that's fine. The movie is not for everyone, it should be, but it is not. A Most Violent Year is about chasing the American dream and some of the short-cuts you have to make that may come back to bite you. The main character, Abel Morales, masterfully played by Oscar Isaacs, has gone out of his way to try and keep everything above the boards but his business gets tagged by the district attorney's office forcing him to make a decision to save his business.

The most jarring moment in the film is when Isaacs was driving with Jessica Chastain, who plays his wife Anna Morales, when they clip a deer. Isaacs has to put the injured animal down and hesitates. Chastain gets out the car pulls out a gun and kills the deer without batting an eye looking eerily like someone who is able to murder in cold blood. The scene shook me, Chastain and Isaacs go toe-to-toe for finest performance in the film, almost. It would be criminal to not give the nod to Elyes Gabel (from TV's Scorpion) for his portrayal of Julian, a driver for Isaacs company, who pays the highest price in the film. A Most Violent Year is bound to have a long life as an American drama and I imagine people looking at it in the same light as The Godfather.