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Jessica Chastain is a lot tougher in A Most Violent Year than she looks here
B+Writer/director J.C. Chandor‘s last movie, All Is Lost, was a saga of one resourceful and courageous man, alone in a small boat, fighting for survival on the high seas under continually deteriorating conditions. His new movie, A Most Violent Year, is about another resourceful and courageous man, who’s also pretty much alone, who’s also fighting for survival in an even harsher environment under continually deteriorating conditions. The only difference is that, here, the environment is the heart of New York City in the year 1981.
Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) isn’t a sailor on the high seas, but a businessman trying to steer his family heating oil business through some highly stormy conditions. He’s under pressure from all sides. His trucks keep getting robbed (probably by goons working for his crooked competitors), he’s under investigation by a district attorney (David Oyelowo) looking to score political points, and he’s strapped for cash at a time he desperately needs some to close the biggest deal of his career. Finally, his wife (Jessica Chastain) keeps urging him to fight back. Abel, however, is determined not to stoop to his enemies’ level but to do business honestly and ethically.
As the movie progresses, we gradually learn just what Abel’s version of honesty and ethics really is. In the movie’s best line, Abel tells his wife that he always wants to do “the most right thing.” But, as the audience comes to realize that “most right thing” seems to keep changing. A Most VIolent Year is a powerful, well acted, and at times nearly brilliant movie that manages to be a morality tale, a study in ethics, and a gripping suspense film.
In this rather telling scene, Abel discusses sales tactics with his employees. The full review of A Most Violent Year will be posted on Silver Screen Cinema as soon as it is available.
Photo Credit: “Jessica Chastain” by Gordon Correll / Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0
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