Director: J.C. Chandor
Year Released: 2014
Rating: 2.0
A businessman (Oscar Isaac), who runs an oil company, finds his trucks are being hijacked (presumably by competition in the industry) and the N.Y. District Attorney office (led by David Oyelowo) is investigating him, so he, his shrewd wife (Jessica Chastain) and his attorney/advisor (Albert Brooks) have to figure out how to expand the business while avoiding future complications. Grey and emotionally distant, it's a tale of numb people engaging in a numb narrative: I respect the desire for a kind of muted calm, but Chandor's movie, from start to finish, lacks any sort of urgency or intensity - it's odd that its only startling moment is when a deer hits Isaac's car and Chastain's character (whose father was in the mob) is the one to permanently end its life (even the suicide that ends the movie is met with a sigh). With this and Margin Call, Chandor has shown an interest in how 'business works' (which, of course, includes corruption/manipulation) but needs to prevent his narratives from becoming too staid.
