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Over the holidays, I saw JC Chandor’s A Most Violent Year with my parents. From what I remember, they weren’t exactly fans of the filmmaker’s previous endeavor, All Is Lost, but then again, Robert Redford stuck in the middle of the ocean is an acquired taste. They did, however, adore A Most Violent Year and were particularly blown away by Oscar Isaac, who they kept referring to as “the new Pacino.”
Unfortunately, A Most Violent Year came and went following its wide release and was all but shut out of the awards race, save for Jessica Chastain‘s Golden Globe nod. It’s a quiet, powerful film that follows Abel Morales (Isaac), an immigrant who owns a profitable heating and oil company during New York City’s most violent period of history. After his truck drivers are attacked by mob-controlled competitors, Abel must choose between turning the other cheek or taking the advice of the Teamsters and his ruthless wife, Anna (Chastain), and arming his fleet, which could start a war. Much like the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, Isaac’s deeply nuanced character stays with you long after the film ends and, despite his striking Guatemalan good looks, Isaac’s acting is what makes you pay attention and empathize with otherwise deeply flawed protagonists. So, in light of the recent hype surrounding Isaac thanks to Ex Machina and the upcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we have but one plea for you, Mr. Isaac: do NOT become a heartthrob.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3FHCB6X0v0]Why should he deny his knee-weakening good looks, you ask? How dare I give into the patriarchy of asking a man to ignore his potential to be a sex symbol, you scoff? To put this into context: remember the McConaissance? Remember the tireless lengths Matthew McConaughey went through to kill his career as a sexy piece of rom-com man meat? Even when he stripped down recently in Magic Mike, McConaughey channeled his dark, smarmy side to make us see his character of Dallas as despicable — a washed up sex object stuck in his money-hungry glory days. It took a long time for McConaughey to be taken seriously after (the actually scary) Ghosts of Girlfriends Past back in 2009, which closed an era of rom-com fare. After a two-year hiatus, we saw him pop up in Richard Linklater’s pitch-black comedy Bernie, Jeff Nichols’ gritty Mud, and finally Jean-Marc Vallée’s harrowing Dallas Buyers Club, which, as we all remember, earned him an Oscar. But the 45-year-old didn’t necessarily have the privilege of starting his career out with Ridley Scott (Robin Hood), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), or the coveted Coen Brothers as Isaac has.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KnlEuOqF0o]This isn’t to throw shade at McConaughey — I’m sure he doesn’t regret his roots — but if you can start out turning heads because of your talent, why retreat to fluff? It should be noted, however, that it isn’t only McConaughey whose suffered the qualms of putting to rest the pretty boy. George Clooney and Ben Affleck also had to hunt or create their own projects that turn around the conversation. Unlike McConaughey, Clooney, and yes, Affleck, whose progression as actors is evident when looking back at their careers, Isaac is a fully formed onscreen presence. And don’t get me wrong: as much as we’d like to see him tease us with his dashing good looks (kind of like he did in period dramas Agora and In Secret), Isaac could be one of the few true talents to have dodged the rom-com initiation into the mainstream.
This December, we’ll see him in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as pilot Poe Dameron followed by X-Men: Apocalypse in 2016. Though I’m skeptical and nervous he’ll hop on the franchise train and leave his indie roots in the dust, my main concern is the Internet talking his good looks to death and unintentionally but inadvertently hurting his career. (Another recent example: remember when Twitter ruined Idris Elba’s chances of playing James Bond?) Later this year, when we see Isaac swoop in from a galaxy far, far away, sporting that oh-so perfect-fitting pilot suit, we can think of it as an early Christmas present for sure. But let’s try to refrain from losing our minds and squashing the man’s chances at future dramatic endeavors that made us fall for him in the first place.
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Photos: Everett Collection
