DVD Review: A Most Violent Year

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A Most Tame Movie

Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac with the worst wig ever) is trying to expand his truck/fuel business in 1981 New York City. But trucks everywhere are getting robbed, and their fuel stolen. He's also under investigation by the D.A (David Oyelowo) for illegal activity. He and his wife, Anna (Jessica Chastain) attempt to do whatever they can to protect their investment, even though their methods of doing so are quite different.

For a movie called A Most Violent Year, our lead spends the entire film trying hard not to be violent. His wife is the one we worry about blowing someone's head off, not him. I found Abel's struggle with that fascinating, unfortunately the film itself didn't match that. It was slow, many things were left unexplained, and at the end of the day it just fell short.

Oscar Isaac has been growing on me. I'm starting to see what everyone else does, and he is a fine actor. Chastain is great here too. Oyelowo isn't in this film much at all, which is disappointing, but a lot of faces from Boardwalk Empire popped up. I was hoping there would be more to this movie, but I think it will just end up being forgettable to me.

Recommended: Yes if you're a fan of Isaac and Chastain, but no for the story

Grade: C+

Memorable Quote: "This was very disrespectful." - Anna (Jessica Chastain)

Comments

  1. Kevin PowersJune 23, 2015 at 12:17 PM

    I love all the actors, so I think this will work for me on that front. It seems most were a bit underwhelmed with this one overall. I'll check it out sooner or later. Good review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 27, 2015 at 6:38 AM

      Thanks! I was kind of hoping for a bit more with it. I wrote this review months ago, and it hasn't been very memorable.

      Delete
  2. UnknownJune 27, 2015 at 9:19 AM

    Now that it's been months since I saw it I tend to agree with you: the story is not memorable, I mean, I know what happens, but it doesn't leave a mark, in the long term. I did like the movie's atmosphere a lot though.

    But Chastain and Isaac were fantastic, two of my favorite performances from last year. I was particularly impressed with him, reminded me a lot of Pacino characters in mafia movies. I felt he had a really strong onscreen presence in this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 27, 2015 at 1:06 PM

      They did give good performances. It's just too bad the script didn't back them up.

      Delete
  3. KhalidJune 28, 2015 at 12:50 PM

    I really liked this movie, thought it was a nice slow-burner and Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain are both brilliant. As for the story, I thought it was good. The film was more of a period-piece than anything else and was more adamant at portraying 1981. Respect your opinion though, Nice review.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kyle MulfordJune 29, 2015 at 4:35 PM

    I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this was slow and boring. I do agree that Isaac was fantastic. Between this and Ex Machina I'm excited to see what else he does in the future (Star Wars!). Chastain I'm still up in the air about as an actress. I guess I just don't see what everyone else does there. Nice review.

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    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 30, 2015 at 7:14 AM

      It happens. I'm a big fan of Chastain, it was Isaac I wasn't entirely sold on until recently.

      Delete
  5. JoshJuly 24, 2015 at 4:59 AM

    Isaac SLAYED in this movie, and I love the cinematography. It felt like J.C. Chandor was doing a James Gray film, which is fine with me. I wasn't that impressed with Chasten in this, though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJuly 24, 2015 at 7:30 AM

      I've really turned around with Isaac. He's pretty damn good.

      Delete

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