A solid film, but a somewhat misleading title as there’s not much actual violence in it. I mention that because I think the wrong type of person might go see this expecting a Tarantino-style bloodbath but it’s actually a much quieter and moodier crime film that is just barely a crime film at all. It’s set in 1981 NYC—on record as having the most violent crime in the city’s history—and follows a legitimate businessman in the heavily-corrupt heating oil industry (Oscar Isaacs) who begins to get pressure from all sides: somebody feels he’s not corrupt enough and are hijacking his trucks but the district attorney feels he’s too corrupt and wants to shut him down. Can he deal with the threats in time to close a deal on a new facility that will push his embattled company to the next level?
What Works: Oscar Isaacs has clearly been cast for his strong resemblance to a young Al Pacino, and the shadowy color scheme and gray tones of this movie do invoke the moral murk of The Godfather. On a technical level, the film is flawless, like taking in a rich oil painting, and it fully immerses you in that dying-70’s period of the early Reagan administration without clubbing you over the head with 80’s flourishes.
Just as good as Isaacs is a supporting roster of seasoned character actors like Jerry Adler and Peter Gerety, plus Albert Brooks as his all-purpose attorney. Still, the movie’s best performance is Jessica Chastain as his cutting wife. The always-excellent Chastain tweaks the supportive-spouse-to-a-troubled-man role she’s known for (Coriolanus, Tree of Life, Take Shelter) into a spouse who’s protective but isn’t devoid of her own agenda. Right up until the end, it’s unclear whether she’s helping or hurting him, and it only adds to the mounting sense of ambiguity.
The film is driving at the question of: how honest can you be and make it in a corrupt world? And the interesting idea that people are only as good as their circumstances allow them to be is a great one for a movie…
What Doesn’t: …Except that this isn’t really it. Our hero is tested, but (to me) it feels like a journey that he never comes out the other side of, and the film keeps putting him between a rock and a hard place, only to let him wiggle free a little too easily without getting his hands as dirty as they need to be. The situation mounts, but the pressure never really does, and the final third doesn’t quite have the tension it should.
What I Would Have Done Differently: There needed to be slightly tighter pacing, a couple of more colorful supporting characters or scenes, and a more cathartic ending, and I think you would have had a great film instead of just a really good one. And I’m saying that as a big fan of writer-director J.C. Chandor, who previously made Margin Call and the especially excellent All is Lost. Obvious care and talent has been put into making this, but just a little more and you’d really have something. Grade: B+
Great review. I may go see this movie because I was thinking it would be a blood and guts movie. Thanks for the review.