I always describe it as the Lumet effect or the Lumet application. It’s basically the approach director J.C. Chandor (“Triple Frontier,” “All Is Lost”) does with all his film; apply the moral tenets and classicist sensibilities of the late great filmmaker Sidney Lumet (“Dog Day Afternoon,” “Serpico”) to all his films. This application of style, tone, and feeling is definitely accurate of Chandor’s 2014 A24 moral crime drama, “A Most Violent Year.” Starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, with Alessandro Nivola, David Oyelowo, Albert Brooks, and Catalina Sandino Moreno. Set in the early 1980s, the film is essentially about the slow erosion of a seemingly virtuous man’s principals, moral granite, and the compounded compromises he has to make in order to stay in the corrupt, crooked, Mafia-controlled heating oil business of New York. It’s a kind of deal with the devil film, the tragedy of thinking you’ve done the right thing, but you’re lost—classic Lumet approach—where Isaac plays a self-made Latin American business owner, and Jessica Chastain plays his ruthless, Macbeth-ian-esque wife. Both actors are outstanding in the movie, and we named it one of the Best Films Of 2014. It was an honorable mention picture in our recent 100 Best Films of The Decade feature too (Bradford Young shot it as well, it looks aces and something straight out of Gordon Willis and “The Godfather”).
But we may not have seen the last of these characters. “To me, she feels like Dick Cheney. I’d love to explore that more with her,” Chastain said in a 2013 interview we conducted with her about the movie and her role, suggesting then, she’d like to keep exploring the character. “I love the idea that, in this film, you underestimate her,” she continued. “It’s fun playing a character that is underestimated. You see her putting makeup on, you think, ‘Okay, this is the ‘wife’ of this crime thriller.’ But then you realize, ‘Oh, no, she’s a lot more than that.’”
Well, maybe that’s going to be realized soon. Over Twitter this week, a fan posted a clip of Isaac and Chastain talking about the film in a Q&A, and professing their affection for one another (they’re also both Julliard alumni and have that connection though they didn’t study at the same time).
“Comforting to know Jessica Chastain loves Oscar just as much as the rest of us,” the Twitter user wrote, to which Chastain noticed and responded, “I actually love him more (Shhhhh guess who may be visiting these characters again soon?…).”
READ MORE: The 100 Best Films Of The Decade
It’s a pretty wild idea, but there are no further details, but my guess? Maybe something more akin to mini-series on a streaming platform focusing on Chastain’s character in the lead role instead and Isaac in more of the supporting role this time, the dynamic flipped.
READ MORE: The 100 Best Films Of The Decade
Obviously, that’s a wild guess, but if you asked me to do a sequel to that story, that’s the way I’d do it. Will Chandor be involved? Direct, write, or just executive produce? Maybe time will tell, but this is super intriguing, and we’re definitely down to see more of Anna and Abel Morales.
I actually love him more ❤️
(Shhhhh guess who may be visiting these characters again soon?…) https://t.co/jxLmGRiuXZ— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) January 1, 2020
