Mafia tale of the A Most Violent Year
Posted By richards on January 16, 2015
Are you ready for another offer you cannot refuse? Set in New York Citys chilly outer boroughs in 1981 and featuring a hero on the fringe of the underworld, a mob-related heroine and a camel-hair coat that should have had its own billing, A Most Violent Year from Margin Call writer-director J.C. Chandor is a worthy attempt to make a Godfather for our times.
Oscar Isaac plays neo-Michael Corleone Abel Morales, an aspiring heating oil magnate, while Jessica Chastain is resplendent as Armani-clad wife Anna Morales. Together, Abel and his mafia princess soulmate try to build a legitimate Brooklyn heating oil empire, all while her gangster father languishes in prison and the feds, headed by a similarly ambitious prosecutor (David Oyelowo), are determined to take Abel and Anna down.
The action begins with the hijacking of one of Abels oil trucks by evildoers unknown. Abel suspects all of his competitors, many of whom are bona fide gangsters. Meanwhile, Abel has almost closed a deal with secretive Brooklyn Hasidic Jews to purchase a waterfront industrial property that will make him a heating oil powerhouse on the East Coast. Trouble is: He has 30 days to close the deal ... in cash.
The pressure is on. As someone notes, These are dangerous times. Lady Macbeth Annas natural weapons include champagne-colored locks, dagger-like nails, killer cleavage and mad calculator skills. Is the unknown villain the second-generation gangster Peter Forente (Alessandro Nivola)? The local Teamster boss (Peter Gerety) is furious that his union members are in danger. Abels attorney Andrew Walsh (Albert Brooks) is a bundle of nerves. Abel gives three young new workers a sales lesson almost, but not quite, worthy of Glengarry Glen Ross. One of the newcomers gets beaten by a phony client.
A Most Violent Year also boasts one of the scariest car chases in recent memory. Elyes Gabel (TVs Scorpion) is terrific as a driver who is injured and afraid to get behind the wheel again. The story ends with an ironic ode to America by composer Alex Ebert. Hes good, but hes no Nino Rota.
A Most Violent Year needed more family ties, not to mention family scenes, to be a genuine Godfather contender. But it has star turns by Isaac and Chastain and crime-movie chops to spare.
(A Most Violent Year contains violence and profanity.)
See the original post:
