'A Most Violent Year' Review (1 Viewer)

Isaac stars as Abel Morales, a Columbian-born businessman out to make a name for himself in the Big Apple's ultra-competitive heating oil industry. Granted, that doesn't immediately sound like a premise that would lend itself well to a gripping crime drama. But when your wife, Anna (Jessica Chastain), is the daughter of the mob boss from whom you purchased the company, your salesmen are being brutally beaten, and your transport trucks — each carrying roughly $6,000 worth of oil — are routinely being hijacked at gunpoint, you can begin to appreciate just how deceiving appearances can be.

The movie's quota of action is surprisingly low, especially considering its title, something that may irk moviegoers who've formed their own preconceptions about the film based on its moniker alone. A riveting opening sequence, a tense daylight shootout and a couple of white-knuckle foot chases are essentially all that's offered up here, leaving the remainder of the 2-hour-plus running time to be occupied by brooding scenes of dialogue and steadily-paced exposition.

Still, it all proves thoroughly engrossing, thanks primarily to the enigmatic on-screen pairing that is Isaac and Chastain. For the most part, the script has their characters working in unison, but on occasion — such as when Abel confronts Anna over a purported act of betrayal — we see them at each other's throats, butting heads with impassioned fervor. Either way, their scenes together exude palpable chemistry, making for some intense drama. Throw in bit parts for actors like Alessandro Nivola and Elizabeth Marvel, as well as a subplot that doesn't end well for one of Abel's embattled truck drivers (Elyes Gabel), and the movie's dripping with it.

Click to expand...

steve jaros said:

My wife and I enjoyed this film very much! Having lived in the northeast during 1980-1981, I felt that the filmakers did a great job of catching the look and feel of that greyish time, and we found the acting and storytelling to be quite compelling. The movie does a good job of portraying the messy street politics of business and government in a pre-Disneyfied NYC, and the slowly building tension between the husband and wife is the inner engine that drives the film forward through the action. I don't know who the lead actor is, but his performance evoked Al Pacino and Christopher Walken. Really good stuff from him.


This film merits its 90%+ Tomatometer rating, it is one of the best I've seen the past year. 8/10.

Click to expand...