The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

I do not agree with the 'kinda' low rating. This film is all about dialog, its a slowish paced movie with gorgeous styling and utter quality. If you go into this expecting some kind of tony montana shootups and lots of yelling- you shouldnt leave a review. I absolutely feel the grace this movie radiates. Also you care for the characters. ( If you are willing to tho) Very calm, tense film, without much pooh haah! Beautiful delicate film. Love it!

I really am a bit lost for words to describe how magnificent this movie is, because IMAGES are what makes this classic burn through my heart. Words are failing when images are so powerful as in "A Most Violent Year"... Seen it 5 times already since it's release and it is here to stay. Gets better with every viewing...It is not a big drama or thriller, it is the story of the struggle to build up an business empire, depicting the thin line between achieving succes and becoming complicit in violence. Oscar Isaac plays an upcoming oil distributor in New York back in the eighties, at a time when crime was running wild in the big apple. Married to a mob's daugther he still wants to walk the righteous path without using his wife's mob connections to make a succes of his oilbusiness. Will he succeed in being a honest businessman or will he cave in under pressure and use the mob to build up his new oil company?This movie became a classic at the very moment it was released. You just gotta see it to believe it. It is not the story that is monumental, the acting is though. The very best of Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain and Albert Brooks. The way this tale of succes and deceit is photographed and scored deserves nothing but praise. Eye and ear candy! The direction by J.C. Chandor builds up a tension that absorbs every second of film. Few directors are capable of creating such delicate, intense, contineous suspense. J.C Chandor's masterpiece.

Chandor has a gift: the tension simmers, the conflict builds and the characters face human conflicts. It doesn't matter whether it is Wall Street corruption, shipwrecks or family business, every movie feels high stakes. The story telling is tight, and the imagery is tighter. Performances like Isaac's here are rare, but the ability to harness them is rare too. This film is MacBeth set in 1981 New York. I wanted it to boil faster, but it cooked anyway. And the final shots were perfect.

This is one movie that I kept watching, hoping that it will really become something. But then it ended. I cursed, turned off the projector and went to sleep. The biggest issue is the lack of a compelling story. There are movies that take a slice of out of someone's life and make it compelling. I guess the writer's intentions were the same, but the end result feels like a bland unfinished meal. It is sometimes hard to go by IMDb ratings to select a movie to watch. I guess if you have enough friends to write glowing reviews, you can bring the ratings up to a point. Critics I guess try not to become lone wolves by toeing the most common critic denominator line and rate it above average. After all, its their job. They don't want to look outside the mainstream. So, I have no idea why it has 7.0 rating on IMDb, it should be a solid 6 for effort, cinematography and decent acting. Nothing more. Nothing less.