cult film freak: REVIEW OF A MOST VIOLENT YEAR

Written by James M. Tate / 2/02/2015 / No comments / 2015 , albert brooks , jessica chastain , mob , oscar issac

REVIEW OF A MOST VIOLENT YEAR

2/02/2015 | No comment

2015 rating: **1/2

A famous line in the infamously dull GODFATHER PART III had Al Pacino shouting that no matter how he tries to get out, they keep pulling him back in… The opposite occurs in A MOST VIOLENT YEAR where real criminals are shoving a relatively honest bootlegger, with one week to purchase an important piece of land, out of business…

From his trucks being robbed to armed goons breaking into his mansion, Oscar Isaac’s Abel Morales is a man with a master plan who won’t let anything get in his way...

Oscar Isaac

With a solid helmet of dark slightly-graying hair, piercing eyes and an overall steely countenance, Issac has all the makings of an old school gangster the likes of Pacino, Robert DeNiro and the guy he somewhat resembles a leading man version of, Chazz Palminteri. Unfortunately the film, a two-hour collection of backroom meetings, conversations and confrontations, makes this potentially solid character less relevant and meaningful to the mob genre than even Andy Garcia in… the aforementioned disappointment.

Like any subtle crime melodrama that spends more time ticking than exploding, providing businesslike realism over pulpy gun play, the suspense is based on each word spoken: And Abel stands behind everything he says – in an otherwise good performance despite the limitations. Meanwhile his wife Anna, played by Jessica Chastain, remains on the sidelines despite having her own form of wily strength and edgy wisdom. What a team they could have made… But nothing really comes of their actions except random reactions, and with two truck robberies, a road chase and an ass-kicking aside, if this were A MOST VIOLENT YEAR, we missed most of it. OVERALL RANK: Jedi, Rebel, Droid, Sith.

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Tags : 2015 , albert brooks , jessica chastain , mob , oscar issac

James M. Tate

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FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)CALCULATED RISK 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE BREAK 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)THE SERGEANT 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE ASPHALT JUNGLE 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)SANDS OF THE KALAHARI 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)RIOT 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6) CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER