In New York City 1981, an ambitious immigrant fights to protect his business and family during the most dangerous year in the city's history.
This is an intelligent and probing drama but one that lacks the oomph factor you might expect in a real Oscar contender.
JC Chandor’s period crime drama is rigorous, resourceful and as smart as a whip.
A Most Violent Year may lack originality but there are fine performances throughout, especially from Isaac.
Chandor scores a CV hat-trick with another expertly controlled drama. A sombre crimer that resists easy thrills, investing instead in grit, intelligence and complex characterisation.
Stylish, sophisticated, simmering crime and character drama with Shakespearean dimension and bravura performances. Who knew heating oil could be a sexy subject?
Dirty dealings abound in A Most Violent Year, nevertheless Chandor keeps it classy.
In JC Chandor’s intense, 80s-set drama, an ambitious wheeler-dealer on New York’s perilous waterfront tries to detoxify his business.
Atmospheric, measured and strangely disaffecting.
A slow-burn it may be, but this is vital, engaging cinema from a young filmmaker with an uncommon clarity of vision and considerable talent who is now three for three after the excellent Margin Call and All Is Lost.
There is something almost Shakespearean about this brooding, thoughtful account of one man’s bid to defy the sea of troubles threatening to engulf him.
A Most Violent Year pays tribute to movies past in its look, tone and action, but Chandor’s perspective keeps it fresh by treating Abel’s story almost as a spiritual prequel to his brilliant financial crisis thriller Margin Call.
It doesn’t have anything especially surprising to say, and the plot never quite cranks into high gear, but it’s an absorbing and finely acted character study and illuminating period piece.
Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac are quietly engrossing in an edgy crime thriller.
JC Chandor on A Most Violent Year: 'There's more villainy than some people would like to admit'
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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