A Most Violent Year

I really wanted to love this movie, writer/director J.C. Chandor's love letter to New York and the movies of Sidney Lumet. 

In 1981 New York, Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) is a mostly fair and clean businessman, working in a corrupt industry--the oil heating business.  Abel is looking to expand the company he bought from his father-in-law and turned into a success, by buying a dock and refinery lot from Hasidic businessman.  He puts up his entire savings on the down-payment, and has a short window of time to pay the remainder, or forfeit his deposit, But forces are marshalling against Abel. A rival is hitting his trucks - with armed goons roughing up his drivers, stealing the trucks and draining them of the oil shipment. 

As the film opens, Julian (Elyes Gabel) is sent to the hospital after one such hijacking, and the pressure is on Abel to protect his fleet.  The Union rep wants to arm the drivers, which is against the law, and threatens to pull them off the trucks if they are not.  An ambitious District Attorney (David Oyelowo) investigating the oil heating business is intent on indicting Abel.  And Abel has moved into a new house with his wife Anna (Jessica Chastain) and their kids, and a man lurking outside one night drops a gun outside their window.  The bank is getting restless about the hijackings and possible indictments. 

 It all reaches a head when Julian returns to the job, and he is hijacked again, pulls a gun, and gets into a gunfight with the hijackers, on a bridge.  When Julian flees the scene, Able needs to hand him over to the cops, or things will get even worse for him.  And what does Anna know about the books they are hiding from the D.A.?  

There are a lot of things to admire in Chandor's film (not the least of which are good performances from two of our best actors in Isaac and Chastain, and great supporting work from Albert Brooks, among others) but there are some scenes that just don't ring true.  And the ending fell flat to me, with a melodramatic turn that just didn't work and screamed "first draft, young ambitious writer."  Shame.  Chandor is a solid filmmaker, and the look of the film, and the recreation of 1981 New York was spot-on, but it just fell a bit short.  

Grade:  B.