Review of A Most Violent Year (2014) by Adlai N — 31 May 2015

Sometimes the gangster life is unavoidable in business, no matter how hard one tries to avoid it and keep going on a straight and narrow pace. Whether one wants to admit it or not, you have to get your hands dirty every once in a while. A Most Violent Year goes over those tough life and death decisions with aplomb with an engrossing character study of a business man who does all he can to not play dirty when things get tough.

Set in the winter of 1981, New York City is statistically experiencing the most violent year in the city's history. Crime is rampant and everyone is looking to get their piece of the pie in search of that elusive American dream. Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) is a Latino immigrant who is a self-made man who worked up from a driver at an oil company to be the boss of the operation. He is quickly rising up the ranks in the oil business and is about to become bigger when he makes a deal for riverside property that would grow his business exponentially and give him a stranglehold on the market. Aided by his trustful lawyer Andrew Walsh (Albert Brooks), He seeks to do business legally and won't resort to tactics that threaten his workers or himself. Things seem to be going well but troubles arise when competing oil companies stick up his drivers and steal his product and persistent DA Lawrence (David Oyelowo) is breathing down his neck for numerous illegal business practices that threaten to derail his life as well as business. To further add to his conflict is his wife Anna (Jessica Chastain), the daughter of a gangster who Abel bought the business from, who tasks him in taking a more take charge attitude and bite back. With so much added pressure, he rushes to clear the deal and take his business to the next level.

This isn't your average or regular gangster drama, which may upset some but I found it to be enthralling and captivating with a couple of great performances. Isaac is one of the standouts and adds another dynamic role to his already impressive resume. Taking hints from a past gangster like Michael Corleone in The Godfather, not only in character but slicked back hair and some gorgeous coats, he is thrown into the world of crime and is unsure how to react. Michael eventually becomes a cold blooded kingpin of the criminal underworld while it's a more virtuous journey for Abel who wants to hold onto his code of honor and duty. Seeing him wade through the waters of good and evil is an entertaining exploit to what man will do to ensure the safety of his business and family.

You become invested in what happens to him and what he is willing to do to make sure that he won't get pushed around anymore by those that deem him weak. Isaac has a quiet and serious mentality that is often set in stone but will diminish if the pressure is put on him. He exudes a cool confidence and an imposing front that would feel right at home in a violent gangster epic by Scorsese but in a cut throat business of heating oil, it still feels right at home. The change in background doesn't make the world any less thrilling or entertaining. If Isaac doesn't take at least one serious gangster film, I would be incredibly surprised. He has a great presence and control over his character that you could potentially see him blow up at any moment. There is much intensity in his eyes that you could practically see his blood boiling, leaving you waiting if he will give in to his violent urges.

Tough and rough edged, he doesn't take things lying down, even if it never resorts to violence, and he eventually takes matters into his own hands when he won't put up with his product getting stolen any longer. But he is by no means innocent as he has been doing the same duplicitous business dealings as his competitors have done but not in a way of outright stealing from one another and threating workers lives. Doing so, it makes an interesting dynamic where you root for him somewhat while at the same time see that he was never all the way clean to begin with. Making up his better half is Chastain's amazing performance as the dutiful gangster's daughter but not necessarily the gangster's wife. She is very well connected with her family being key members of the criminal underworld that clearly influenced her character and how she does business.

Abel wanting to do business his way stops her the moment she mentions her notorious family to offer him some much needed help. Whip smart and in control, she is in charge of the books for the company and proves to be incredibly valuable later on. She practically steals every scene she is in and commandeers the ship or attempts to when things get out of hand. Chastain made it very easy to be enthralled by her as she attempts to woo Abel to the dark side of business and give in to his inner gangster. She has an impressive presence that makes the complete image of her rather appealing. Her beauty matched with her no nonsense ideals makes for an amazing character that no one would dare mess with. She simply talks the talk and walks the walk, daring anybody else to stand toe to toe with her. This makes the chemistry between Isaac and Chastain crackling with tension and emotion where you can't help but stick onto every word.

The repoire they show was incredibly engaging, with neither one willing to let up it made for some great drama and interactions. Brooks was good too in a small but important role as his lawyer. He is also more inclined to go into the gangster way of doing things, trying to guide Abel in that direction too. He considers arming the drivers with pistols to counteract the hijackings but Abel argues it could prove to be more trouble than its worth. Being a comedian for much of his career, he makes for great imposing authority figures in crime dramas with his performance as a gangster in Drive being one of his best roles and he fits the role like a glove.

J.C. Chandor is one of the more promising directors and writers, sporting a small number of films but are all nevertheless impressive. He has a great knack for character driven films and tense moments wrought with heavy dialogue. Even though All Is Lost is basically devoid of any dialogue but it is still thrilling and captivating. He presents people who aren't perfect and puts their morality under a magnifying glass with much of the characters in the financial drama Margin Call fitting that model. It's not surprising that he got an Oscar nomination for best screenplay for Margin Call. While not full of the gun battles, explosions, car chases and gratuitous violence that is permanent in various gangster films, it instead takes a restrained approach to things.

Although there was an effective and exciting car chase that later led to a foot chase that really got you in. I really liked how he went about putting a normal business like oil and heating and placing it against a mob type setting. The interactions that the characters have with one another makes for an interesting dynamic when you realize that these guys aren't cold blooded killers, just guys who want the edge on their competition. It's a slow burner where the characters are allowed to simmer where it makes it hard to guess where their emotions will take them. The dialogue is rich with intensity where you don't really expect it too. Chastain has such a great way of speaking that's threatening and condescending and she just takes everything head on. The back and forth interactions between everyone was a joy to listen to and made it much more rich and developed.

The scene where Abel is coaching his new recruits how to take charge of their customers was wrought with intensity and takes it up a notch when he talks down to an employee who laughs at the all too wrong moment. If it were a true gangster movie, you would have expected the boss to level him with a baseball bat like Al Capone in The Untouchables. That's how effective A Most Violent year is in that it perfectly copies what we expect from gangster films and transports them to another movie and setting where the central character is doing all that he can to not be a gangster. It feels like a 70s throwback crime drama where action wasn't the central piece of entertainment and the dialogue and complex characters dominate the screen. It ended on somewhat of a happy note but in a direction that begets an interesting scenario for all involved. It's a little ambiguous but it becomes a little clearer when you notice the previous moments in the film.

Films like A Most Violent Year can be hard to peg sometimes. There isn't much violence or bare knuckle action like many expected, but a film shouldn't always contain everything that it's about in the title. Sometimes I enjoy a slow burning drama that just captivates you with dialogue and story that unwanted action would have weighed it down and mad the film worthless in the end. If one puts in the time and doesn't expect a Scorsese film, you will come out the other end with a gem. A little too talky for some with not much of the payoff one may expect, it still has plenty of thrills with a pair of amazing performances that dominate the screen. The payoff that some may want wouldn't have made it a better film necessarily. But going the route it went leaves it with an air of ambiguity that says more than going a more pedestrian route would. Four stolen gas tankers by gunpoint out of five.