On A Most Violent Year

A Most Violent Year is set during the month of January following the most violent year in New York City. There is little actual violence. The title is therefore a little misleading, but the preceding year and the increased police pressure on potential criminal enterprises influences its characters. 

This is director J C Chandor’s largest film both thematically and stylistically and feels like a natural progression from the brilliant office set Margin Call (2011) and the more experimental, technically impressive All is Lost (2013). A Most Violent Year is well acted, showing Chandor to be a great director of actors and influenced by the gritty 1980s New York City cinema. Yet it never quite manages to create the atmosphere it strives for and the one the characters act like they’re a part of. Chandor’s camera focuses tightly on the actors (of which there are not many), not allowing us to feel the environment. This makes, what should be a big film (as it has big themes) appear smaller and less significant than it is.