Review of A Most Violent Year (2014) by Freddy H — 17 Apr 2015

"A Most Violent Year" is a difficult movie to categorize. It isn't a mafia movie because even though organized crime is mentioned several times there are no sightings of them. Some may call it a thriller, but there are very few moments where you are actually "thrilled" by what happens on screen. If there ever was such a type of genre, "Year" would go under the category of Slow Burn.

A Slow Burn film is one that moves along at well....a slow pace but gives the viewer just enough to intrigue them and have them wanting to know what is going to happen next. "Year" saunters on through the story of a man fighting against the person who he knows he must become in order to achieve his version of the American Dream. Abel Morales is a hardworking, tenacious, yet honorable man who wants to take his business to new heights . To do this, he has had to make major sacrifices and avoid running into the same pitfalls that other businessman have that usually involve dealings within the criminal underworld to help get where they want to be. However, in a time where New York City seems to be teeming with murder, rape, and corruption, this will prove to be most difficult for Abel.

Oscar Isaac has been in the middle area of "that guy from that thing" and "rising star" for some time now and "Year" is yet another example of the talent this guy has to potentially be Hollywood's next major star. He has a way of using his eyes and tone of voice to convey a sense of tension that is so strong that it makes you squirm in your seat. We see Abel as this man with the ultimate chip on his shoulder from a past we never learn about, but don't necessarily need to. He is a man who has this unrelenting sense of purpose and that purpose is to make something of himself and that something is a figure of power and influence that others respect and admire. In order to achieve this, he wants to do things his own way...the "right" way. As we watch Abel struggle with his morality and battle to avoid becoming a gangster, we see that he may come to realize that in order to get where he wants to go, that is what he needs to be in that world at the time. At Abel's side is his wife Anna (Jessica Chastain) who "conveniently" is the daughter of a Brooklyn neighborhood organized crime boss who may or may have not have put Abel in the position to capitalize on his desires more then he would want to admit. We learn very quickly that Anna is very savvy in the world of business and that her background allows her to see the world in a different way than Abel, which means that in order to get where they want to be, doing the "right" thing isn't always the best option. Chastain is so good at playing strong women, and one of the highlights of the film is watching Abel and Anna battle amongst themselves for the title of "pants wearer" in their relationship.

Writer/director J.C. Chandor has been one of the rising stars of Hollywood amongst filmmakers for a while now and "A Most Violent Year" is yet another chapter in his development as one of the industries brightest and captivating story tellers. He crafts this film in a way that keeps us on the hook yet doesn't exhaust us by not overusing the "Violent" part of the title. He shows us a dreary world of greed, corruption, deceit that makes us question how any of these characters could even believe in this idea of the fabled American Dream. Seriously, you could argue that there is not one pair of characters that interact throughout the film that could safely say that they trust one another. Everyone seems to be out for themselves in a dog eat dog world, which makes one wonder if that is what the American Dream has become.