Review of A Most Violent Year (2014) by David S — 12 Jul 2015

Maybe I had the wrong impression upon entering "A Most Violent Year". For some crazy reason, I expected violence. Not that I'm necessarily a proponent of it, its just that, ah-nevermind. A long and drawn out mess, well acted mind you, it continues on like a medical assembly project with a monotony that becomes hard to muster.

There are spurts of interesting, quotable dialogue, and moments of suspense, but for the most part, this film misses the mark. Its stars the fresh face of Oscar Isaac, who proves again(remember "Inside Llewyn Davis") that he is going to be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

He plays the ever-willful, well-dressed Abel, an entrepreneur whose morality is currently in conflict with the nature of the beast that is the oil trucking business he's at the helm of. His wife with mob ties on hold is played by an icy, intense Jessica Chastain, who looks the part as well as she embraces it.

Abel constantly allows the people around him, including his wife, to walk all over him with their criticisms while he constantly does the opposite of any suggestion they make. His trucks are being highjacked and the entire film's mission is trying to find out who is responsible.

There are a number of suspects, and its all rather untimely as it is happening while Abel is in the midst of acquiring a very large property to expand his businees. While this dilemma takes place another transpires when a district attorney informs Abel he will be soon be indicted for unspecified reasons.

All I could think about while watching Isaac in this film was how appropriate it would be to cast him as Michael Corleone if the Godfather were to be redone. He has all the potential to be the perfect gangster, and this film doesn't allow him to be, even though it was marketed as such.

I thought I was going to see a gangster flick, and what I got was a film about the thralls of the fuel currier industry. No matter how well the outcome of that premise may be, its just not my cup of tea.