Film Preview: A Most Violent Year (2014)

Poster

Trailer Link

Release Date:

December 31, 2014

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A crime drama set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in the city’s history, and centered on a the lives of an immigrant and his family trying to expand their business and capitalize on opportunities as the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built.”

Poster: C+ / B-

Review: There isn’t much here, but it’s a stylish noir of a design that does precisely what it needs to do: set a tone for the film. Simplicity has its drawbacks and the lack of visual flair might make it easy to forget.

(#2) A more distinctly New York design that captures the visual essence and setting of the film, though it feels similar to a lot of other New York-set crime dramas.

Trailer: C / B

Review: The year of prominent films that look like disappointments continues with a lackluster trailer debut for J.C. Chandor’s latest film. It’s not like his prior films looked that interesting or challenging, it’s just that you would expect a film like this to have more going for it than period detail and crime thriller aesthetics.

(#2) Giving Jessica Chastain more screen time is a great thing. Not giving Oscar Isaac more seems a travesty (since this is really his story). Either way, this trailer makes the film more appealing than its predecessor did.

Oscar Prospects:

In two outings, J.C. Chandor has managed to encourage Oscar attention of varying magnitudes. Chandor himself was nominated for his directorial , Margin Call, in the Best Original Screenplay category. With his second film, he was frequently in the discussion for Best Actor for star Robert Redford along with a potential nomination in Best Original Screenplay. Unfortunately for him, the Academy nominated the film only in the Best Sound Editing category. His third film brings together Oscar nominees Jessica Chastain and Catalina Sandino Moreno and past Oscar contenders Oscar Isaac and Albert Brooks together in a crime thriller that might be a bit outside the Academy’s wheelhouse, but will encourage talk anyway.