IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched on Amazon Prime
Just as surprised as I was last Wednesday when I saw Triple Frontier, my first film by J.C. Chandor, that it wasn't just a blunt mercenary fun but a character driven movie, I was now surprised how interesting and exciting a film about the heating oil industry in New York in the 80s can be.
Abel Morales, a righteous businessman who works according to strict principles, and his wife Anna, a shrewd, clever woman, are on the verge of making a career-defining major step after years of deprivation, but have to realize that the competition and the authorities are almost insurmountable obstacles to getting closer to their dream of building a heating oil empire.
The atmosphere that Chandor creates is what I would call supercooled. This is best illustrated by the couple themselves: the once loving marriage develops in the wake of the merciless, dangerous industry into a pure business relationship with only sporadic outbursts of emotion when it comes to endangering children or concluding contracts.
The film is not recommended for friends of tough action and non-stop car chases. Chandor tells with calm and much value on character development and only occasionally relies on classic elements like shootings and persecutions. When he does this, they are quite short, or as in the case of a 5-minute chase on foot quite realistic.
The actors are great. Oscar Isaac applies for an appearance in the next big mafia movie and Jessica Chastain is just as great! Also side characters are cast by well-known people like Albert Brooks, Christopher Abbott or David Oyelowo. A true discovery for me was Elyes Gabel, who plays the driver Julian and whose fate was really captivating.
For the movie's title A Most Violent Year the film offers surprisingly little brutality, but a fight for survival on an often civilized, but morally questionable level!
A straightforward, exciting film that makes J.C. Chandor even more interesting for me.
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