A Most Violent Year (2015)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Gritty, gripping, and weighted with thought-provoking heft, A Most Violent Year represents another strong entry in writer-director J.C. Chandor's impressive filmography.
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Cast
as Abel Morales
as Anna Morales
as Lawrence
as Andrew Walsh
as Peter Forente
as Julian
as Luisa
as Bill O'Leary
as Louis Servidio
as Arnold Klein
as Saul Lefkowitz
as Josef
as Lorraine Lefkowitz
as John Dominczyk
as Elias Morales
as Armored Guard
as Radio Reporter
as Competitor
as Instructor
as Maria
as Driver 1
as Contractor
as Kathy
as Mr. Rose
as Driver 3
as Driver 2
as Lefkowitz Secretary
as Catherine Morales
as Beat Cop
as Debbie
as Mrs. Rose
as Jimmy O.
as Vinny
as Toll Booth Clerk Powell
as Ian Thompson
as New Salewoman
as Alex
as Soccer Player
as Soccer Girl
as Annie Morales
as Radio Reporter
News & Interviews for A Most Violent Year
Critic Reviews for A Most Violent Year
All Critics (215) | Top Critics (46) | Fresh (192) | Rotten (23)
The underside of the American Dream is on display in A Most Violent Year, a drama about an immigrant trying to make his way to the top.
Chandor follows the psychologically penetrating tradition of Sidney Lumet, Alan Pakula and Francis Ford Coppola, observing crime as a microcosm of society.
Like that camel-hair coat Abel wears, A Most Violent Year is classy and commands respect, but a stronger pulse under the lapels would make us care much more.
[A] tight anti-thriller, one where the violence of the title is more implied than seen.
"A Most Violent Year" is a far more interesting film than its title implies. And a film you've never seen before.
Abel is a man with ideals in a world that has no use for them: If he's going to succeed, he's going to have to use his wits instead of bullets.
Audience Reviews for A Most Violent Year
Unspectacular and realistic thriller drama about an early 80s entrepreneur and his attempt to stay above water within the law. The actors are top notch, although Chastain remains underused. Isaac carries the film with his performance, the plot does move a little slowly at times and there are merely a few adrenaline peaks. Still, overall satisfying and well done. Just don't expect to bite your nails in excitement or thrill.
Super Reviewer
Excellent performances and engaging story kept me involved. Thankfully, there's more to it than violence!
Super Reviewer
An immigrant's business is threatened by crime just as he has over-leveraged his assets. Oddly, A Most Violent Year is one of the least violent movies I've seen in a long time, but that doesn't mean that it's not incredibly tense and compelling. Jaw-clenching Oscar Isaac and icy-staring Jessica Chastain make compelling scene partners, and this plot puts them through the ringer. The film has been favorably compared to the work of Sidney Lumet, one of American cinema's most underrated masters, and I can see why: both director J.C. Chandor and Lumet use long, slow shots, framed in shadowy backgrounds to subtly establish a pervasively sinister mood. Anything can happen in the threatening worlds of Chandor and Lumet, and even when it doesn't, there's the feeling that the characters have only temporarily escaped tragedy. This mood leads to what I think is one of the film's great sequences. It's a chase sequence in which Abel, Isaac's character, must run down a lead on who has been stealing his business's trucks. With most chase sequences, it's easy to tell how it's going to end - the plot event has to be resolved by the character either catching the prey or not - but in this sequence, even though we know that Abel will catch the guy, we don't know whether Abel will fall further from grace and become a murderer. This moment of unpredictability is masterfully built and becomes an example of how good films can take a familiar construct - the chase - and make it fresh and exciting. Overall, A Most Violent Year is a phenomenal film, and it solidifies Isaac and Chandor as two of our most promising talents.
Super Reviewer
A Most Violent Year Quotes
| Anna Morales: | This was veeeery disrespectful |
| Anna Morales: | This was very disrespectful. |
| Abel Morales: | You should know that I have always taken the path that is most right. The result is never in question for me. Just what path do you take to get there? And that is what this is. |
| Abel Morales: | When it feels scary to jump, that is exactly when you jump, otherwise you end up staying in the same place your whole life, and that I can't do. |
| Abel Morales: | You will never do anything as hard as staring someone straight in the eye and telling them the truth. |