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Some of the most thrilling crime dramas focus on mobsters and other shady characters and their battle for business supremacy. But writer/director J. C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year tells a different kind of story, focusing on a businessman who’s fighting to stay straight in an otherwise crooked industry.
A Most Violent Year takes place in 1981, a year when violence ruled New York City. Oscar Isaac stars as Abel Morales, an ambitious businessman who’s struggling to grow his business the honest way—despite fierce (and often shady) competition.
The city’s oil industry is known for its corruption, and Abel’s competitors seem to be resorting to hijacking his trucks, assaulting his salesmen, and sending armed goons to his new home to scare him away. And just as Abel is about to close on a deal that’s guaranteed to solidify his business, the District Attorney announces plans to bring charges against him—charges that threaten to destroy everything that he’s worked so hard to build.
A Most Violent Year isn’t another mobster movie. It’s a movie about a guy who’s surrounded by mobsters—who’s even expected to be a mobster—yet he’s fighting to do things differently. Though Abel’s past feels a bit hazy, he’s a fascinating character—a hard-working man who’s determined to succeed. But instead of taking a whatever-it-takes kind of attitude, he takes a whatever’s-right kind of attitude. So when the head of the Teamsters demands that he arm his truck drivers, he refuses. And when the District Attorney announces that he has enough proof to charge Abel with fraud and tax evasion, he’s outraged and even fearful of the effect that the charges will have on his business, yet he’s confident that he’s done nothing wrong.
It’s Abel’s no-nonsense wife, Jessica Chastain’s Anna, then, who brings the grit and guts to the burgeoning business. She may be the company’s bookkeeper, but she’s also the one who pushes her husband into action—and who isn’t afraid to take action herself when he won’t. She’s the one who will do whatever it takes to protect her family, her business, and her lifestyle.
Just as Abel grounds the business, Isaac leads the film with a solid yet subtly shifting performance. And just as Anna guides the business from behind the scenes, Chastain’s bold supporting performance guides the film’s tone, turning this corporate drama into something more.
A Most Violent Year isn’t exactly an action-packed film—which, considering the title, may come as a surprise. But it’s quietly, subtly suspenseful—a character-driven film about the struggle to build a business.
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