“Brilliantly acted, but rather unenjoyable.”
SPOILER FREE It’s the Oscar Isaac season. Set in New York – statistically speaking’ 1981 was one of the most violent years in the city’s history – hence the film’s title. Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain really are great in this – truly fantastic. Jessica Chastain is up for best supporting actress in just about every award ceremony going and you can see why – it’s awesome acting as well as stunning direction. Don’t let the title fool you – it’s not a film with guns blazing, blood everywhere with a Tarantino esc. written all over it; it’s actually rather quiet and controlled. Much of the build-ups and so-called fireworks dwell in conversations between people. A lot of the film certainly feels like it’s building up to something, rather than experiencing a full-on bloody war. ‘A Most Violent Year’ resembles the quietest moments of Martin Scorsese’s ‘Goodfellas’ or even that of ‘Casino’.
The film is captivating but not necessarily engrossing – the film’s first couple acts are really rich with suspense and gang politics; all of which are very interesting. The character development is rather strong and we definitely get to know Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) and Anna Morales (Jessica Chastain) very well; better still we enjoy being in their company. Reminding me very much of ‘Goodfellas’ and how the character of Henry Hill is mean, selfish and nasty; but you still enjoy being in his presence and want him to win. ‘A Most Violent Year’ succeeds in this also.
The story is well-told, the acting is strong all-round and I love the way the film is shot. Bradford Young is the cinematographer, and I really liked the way that the camera stood often far away from the action and the conversations. The film featured many shots of people from far away, and then suddenly we would cut to a close-up of someone’s face. It’s rare, but wonderful shooting. All in all it’s a film I really admire, more-so than like. Many people love the genre of crime/gangster but it’s always been something that I’ve struggled with. I think that it’s a strong piece of work, and maybe I could do with seeing it again; but I wasn’t blown away by it. Many aspects of the story weren’t things that we haven’t seen before. ’Goodfellas’ stands out to me as being one of the greatest films of all-time because it has everything, yet it’s hugely enjoyable. ‘A Most Violent Year’ is successful in many ways, just not in every way.
★★★
Hudson-Cook 