A Most Violent Year

It might seem misleading, but the title of A Most Violent Year is also accurate, and not just because of true-life statistics in New York during the winter of 1981, when this fictional crime drama takes place.

It’s evocative of that time and place, but the latest from director J.C. Chandor (All Is Lost) is a gritty and suspenseful exploration of violence that’s more about corporate conflict than brute force.

The story follows Abel (Oscar Isaac), an immigrant owner of an independent oil company whose truck drivers have become hijacking targets. While some other firms are starting to arm their drivers against such crimes, as the Teamsters suggest, the soft-spoken but demanding Abel takes a firm stance against it.

At the same time, his company is looking to expand by closing a deal on a new storage facility, but is having trouble securing a loan because the assistant district attorney (David Oyelowo) is after him for a variety of fraud and racketeering charges. Thus a question arises — as he adopts an underdog mentality, is Abel cheating the system or a victim of cutthroat competition?

In a way, the film takes on the same blue-collar mentality of its characters. It’s an insightful behind-the-scenes peek into the trucking industry, while at the same time vividly conveying how it felt as ordinary people are put into harm’s way on the streets.

Chandor turns his throwback vision of New York, rendered in subtle sepia tones, into an extra character. It’s a multicultural melting pot bordering on desolation and despair, as the film clarifies with lingering shots of dilapidated buildings and graffiti on subway walls.

Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) portrays a complex antihero with a shrewd mix of strength and vulnerability, even if his character isn’t given much personal context. Vital support comes from Jessica Chastain as Abel’s feisty wife and Albert Brooks as his reassuring lawyer, with both actors defying convention.

Chandor’s screenplay includes some generic procedural elements, and the way Abel’s problems pile on top of one another tends to feel contrived. Yet A Most Violent Year gradually builds tension as the walls close in on him, generating an intriguing moral dilemma during his quest for redemption and vigilante justice amid socioeconomic strife and pervasive anarchy.

Rated R, 124 minutes.