After portraying slick, ambitious FBI agent Anthony Amado in David O. Russell’s acclaimed crime caper American Hustle, which won a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and is currently up for 10 Academy Awards, Alessandro Nivola has booked another buzzy period pic: J.C. Chandor’s New York crime drama A Most Violent Year.
The film, set in the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in New York history, follows a family of immigrants who attempt to create a prospering business without getting dragged into the crime, corruption and decay of the day. Oscar Isaac stars alongside Jessica Chastain, Albert Brooks and David Oyelowo.
Nivola joins the cast as Peter Forente, a heating oil distributor and a competitor to Isaac’s character. Given Nivola’s penchant for playing sleazy characters, I’d imagine Forente will be one of the film’s main antagonists, but few details about the plot have emerged as of yet.
However, it doesn’t seem too early to start getting excited about A Most Violent Year. Chandor’s past two films – Margin Call and All is Lost – have both been acclaimed for their tense writing and direction, but the director has never before taken on a film with the epic scope of A Most Violent Year.
The director also has a truly terrific cast to work with. Isaac has been a strong character actor for years, but he proved beyond all doubt that he was leading man material with last year’s Inside Llewyn Davis. Meanwhile, Chastain is an Oscar darling thanks to nominations for her performances in The Help and Zero Dark Thirty, and Brooks was considered one of the ceremony’s most egregious snubs a few years back for his sneering, sadistic turn as gangster Bernie Rose in Drive. Finally, Oyelowo’s star has been rising in recent years due to his roles in Jack Reacher and The Butler.
Distributor A24 is already eying a late 2014 release date so that the film can arrive in the midst of Oscar season.
Tell us, are you excited to see Nivola join the already stellar cast? And are you anticipating A Most Violent Year? Let us know below!
