Is there an underside of the American Dream? The answer would be a resounding ‘yes’ after having watched this film – a drama about an immigrant from Colombia trying to make his way to the top in crime-ridden New York City in the year 1981.
Oscar Isaac is undoubtedly the star of this film, and actually, were it not for his arrestingly good looks, there are times when the dry bones landscape of a graffiti-laden NYC tends to lose its artistic charm and the tightly controlled and expertly coiled plot seems to underwhelm ever so slightly. But Mr. Isaac and his self-determined, beautiful, and compelling wife played by Jessica Chastain are a power couple, and you cannot help but watch with wonder as they engage a potential investor to close a deal. With his camel-hair topcoat and her plunging neckline, this is uber-cool gangster dynamics at its best.
There is not so much direct violence as is suggested in the title as there is in the mood of the film. And the mood is both violent and pregnant with suspense, so much so, that one almost wishes the violence would erupt already and be done with. And yet, there is both a sense of relief as well as a feeling of being underwhelmed with an ending that offers no redemption. Such is the fate of violence, as it most always is.
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