Almost 10 Years on, J.C. Chandor’s “A Most Violent Year” remains one of the most underrated films of past decade. You know that saying, “they don’t make them like they used to”? Chandor’s immaculate portrait of greed and corruption in ’80s NYC felt like the best film Sidney Lumet never made.
Jessica Chastain, who gives a great performance in the film, has been waiting years for a sequel to “A Most Violent Year.” She’s now telling Entertainment Weekly that her urge to revisit Chandor’s crime drama hasn’t subsided.
Here’s the reality, and we’ll see if this ever happens, because this is a script I’m waiting to get written. Waiting on. It’s a story about capitalism using this family, [it’s] the American story. J.C. has a really good…when I first met with him, he pitched me this whole idea, and I think it’s amazing, so I’m waiting. I’m just waiting to get a script.
Chastain teased in 2020 on Twitter, “Guess who may be visiting these characters again soon?” which only added to the rumors that “A Most Violent Year” was first conceived as a trilogy.
In “A Most Violent Year,” Chandor continued to show his talents for expertly choreographed, hold-your-breath action scenes. Aided by Bradford Young’s immaculate camerawok, this is a movie that showcased the chops of a confident filmmaker who was in total control of his mise-en-scene.
It was an epic and visceral saga, the kind of movie that felt like it was part of a bygone Hollywood era, one in which smartly-delivered drama used to be the norm.
Set in 1981 New York, when the city was suffering from intense daily violence and crime, the film dealt with a fuel supplier (Oscar Isaac) who tries to adhere to his own moral compass amidst the rampant violence, corruption, and decay that threatens his family and business. His fuel drivers keep getting robbed, but, ignoring the advice of his Lady MacBeth-like wife (a powerful Jessica Chastain) he refuses to arm and defend his territory.
The film is easily one of the most underrated films of the 2010s. It’s definitely up there with “Krisha,” “Columbus,” “Killer Joe,” and “Blue Ruin” as one of the great American films that completely went under the radar and deserved a better fate.