Heating Oil isn’t exactly what you’d call a riveting subject. Truck pulls up, fills your tank and that’s it. But, Hollywood, ever looking to make movies about anything that might make a buck, has decided that a movie about heating oil is just what the accountants ordered.
Set in New York city in 1981, an immigrant, Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) risks everything on a deal that will either be the making of him, or will be his downfall. Throw in gangsters and big dollops of corruption, all trying to crush Morales, and you have a story that is exciting, at least on paper.
On the big screen translation however, it is like trudging through oil as Isaac delivers a performance that never really elevates above flat. His line delivery is monosyllabic and he just seems to go from scene to scene, with little or no conviction. On occasion he turns it on a bit, but for the best part he’s boring and flat. How he'll make a good X-Wing pilot is beyond this reviewers small grasp of logic.
Jessica Chastain on the other hand, delivers a rather good performance topped off with a great style and an icy persona. The supporting cast though are solid too, especially Elyes Gabel and Albert Brooks who are not only incredibly likeable and watchable, but are utterly convincing.
Excluding a rather brilliant, albeit short, hijacking attempt on one of the big apple’s famous bridges, the irony of a most violent year, is that there is little violence. Instead, it’s quite the opposite. For a movie that at it’s core is surrounded by countless bad guys, it seems like a missed opportunity. One wonders what the likes of Martin Scorsese or Michael Mann would have done with this. Some may say that’s it's admirable that J.C. Chandor has chosen to go the route he’s gone down here, but it serves little purpose.
A Most Violent Year, while it does have its moments, these are far and few between. The chemistry between the cast seems non-existent for the best part and audiences will have great difficulty in connecting with the characters. In fact, the first twenty minutes alone are so contrived, that many people will probably walk out. For those that stay, the occasional gun-shot or car collision may rouse you from your slumber. This is a movie that mainstream audiences won't like. Granted, the hipsters will endure it for bullshit bragging rights.
As exciting as spilling a litre of oil down the toilet, A Most Violent Year promises to heat you up, but only manages barely tepid.
