A Most Violent Year
Status: Finished first viewing on 02/17/2022
Rating: 4/5
Spoilers
Margin Call is one of my favorite movies, and I liked All is Lost quite a bit as well. So I was excited to watch another film written and directed by J.C. Chandor. This one is pretty good too, but not at the same level as Margin Call. Together, these movies are so good, that I plan on watching the poorly-reviewed *Triple Frontier - the only other feature-length Chandor film.
Oscar Isaac plays Abel Morales, who runs a heating-oil company in New York City. Apparently, the heating oil business has a history of corrupt practices. Morales suffers from his industry’s negative reputation on two fronts. First, his drivers are repeatedly victimized by violent hijackings, that he believes are somehow connected to his unscrupulous competitors. Second, as a rising star in the New York heating-oil market, he is targeted for investigation by an district attorney looking to take-on the corrupt industry. Ironically, Morales is actually a diligent law follower, who gained his success through a relentless work ethic and an unfailing commitment towards always doing the right thing.
I understood the movie as tribute to those rare people, like Morales, who somehow manage to both resist the temptation of wrongdoing and also find success. Some people have complained that the plot is too slow, but I did not. I found the writing and plot to be very strong.
Personally, I find Oscar Isaac a bit over-rated. Apparently, they originally were hoping to have Javier Bardem in the lead role, who I suspect would have been better. The performances were fine, but not at the level of Margin Call.