Review: A Most Violent Year
A first-rate vivisection of ambition and moral compromise, A Most Violent Year is set in 1981, reportedly the worst year on record for violent crimes. That year saw the release of Prince and the City, Sidney Lumet's police corruption drama; Brian DePalma's Scarface, released in 1983, saw the rise and fall of Tony Montana during 1980s Miami. It's interesting to note the timelines as the films are thematically of a piece with one another, while J.C. Chandor possesses Lumet's sense of storytelling.
Like Tony Montana, Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) is an immigrant who has worked his way up in a corrupt industry. Unlike Tony, Abel aspires to be the good guy, the one who takes "the path that is most right." It's a phrase that allows for loopholes. He's all too aware that everyone else around him would rather play dirty than play with principles. When the film begins, he and his lawyer Andrew Walsh (Albert Brooks) are conducting a deal with a group of Hasidic Jews to purchase a waterfront fuel yard, a piece of property that would position Abel's oil heating company to corner the market. The terms of the deal couldn't be simpler: a substantial deposit upfront, the remaining balance to be paid in thirty days. No extensions, no contingencies. If he fails to come up with the rest of the money, then he forfeits his deposit.
For a hardworking man like Abel, the terms of the deal are not only acceptable but achievable. His bankers trust him: when Abel took out a loan years ago to buy the heating company from his wife's gangster father, the term was for 5 years. He paid it off in 6 1/2 months. Yet things are more complicated this time around. Abel finds himself embroiled in a turf war - his drivers and sales reps are continually ambushed and attacked - and the district attorney (David Oyelowo), who's been investigating the industry for wrongdoing, charges him with countless offenses including fraud and tax evasion.
Are we exposed, do they have a case against us, he asks his wife Anna (Jessica Chastain), who responds that they follow standard industry practices on every front. "What does that mean?" he asks, a question that repeats itself over the course of the film. What does following standard industry practices entail? What does it mean when Anna later remarks, "It's as clean as every dollar we've ever made." Will the truth behind those words drag him deeper into the dirt or pull him out of it? One of the film's many strengths is observing how Abel maintains his composure despite the slow squeeze, and the beauty of Isaac's exemplary performance lies in the way he modulates Abel's behaviour in each of his face-to-face transactions. The gradations of his calm are subtle - menacing when talking with a runaway employee's girlfriend, big brotherly when convincing his younger sibling to co-sign on a mortgage, prostrating as he attempts to procure money from a fellow competitor. It's a performance that more than recalls Pacino's Michael Corleone, and one that truly speaks to the depths of Isaac's talent.
No less impressive is the chameleonic Chastain, whose blond bob brings to mind Michelle Pfeiffer's benumbed Elvira in Scarface. Chastain's Anna is arguably the most dangerous player here, capable of anything - whether it be cooking the books, putting Oyelowo's attorney in his place, or possibly even shoving her husband out of the picture ("You're not gonna like what'll happen once I get involved."). This is a woman who could easily keep the big boys in line if they ever allowed her a place at the table, and Chastain never lets you forget it.
Production designer John P. Goldsmith, costume designer Kasia Walicka Mamone (with an assist from Giorgi Armani, who outfitted Chastain), and cinematographer Bradford Young come together to present a squalid, industrial wasteland with Abel and Anna garbed in sumptuously tailored outfits that serve as armour against the impenetrable murkiness of their surroundings. Chandor delivers a tough-minded and astute film, a richly textured piece that questions the cost of achieving the American Dream.
A Most Violent Year
Directed by: J.C. Chandor
Written by: J.C. Chandor
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, Albert Brooks, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola, Elyses Gabel, Catalina Sandino Moreno
