Review of A Most Violent Year (2014) by Maria J — 07 Feb 2015

Abel is a grounded, seductive and determined character. More afraid of failure than of death itself. He is mesmerizing to watch as he struggles to make an honest living in a crime-ridden city who punishes those who do not play by its rules.

Questions about the nature and basis of his morality and his motivations kept me absorbed for the entire movie. Pitched against him are the fragile, the ruthless, the self-serving the weary. And somehow he seems to rise above them all.

However, I wonder if I would have been less gripped if it weren't for the dramatic score which infused the movie with some existential anxiety that something really important is about to happen. I questioned the relationship between the main characters.

Chastain's character seemed like a bit of a caricature and there was something off about their relationship. I felt somewhat manipulated at the end. Not because it didn't tie the strings together but because what had preceded the ending had also been heavily story driven.