A Most Violent Year(2015)

Cast: Oscar Issac, Jessica Chastian.

Plot and summary:

A Most Violent year is an American crime drama directed by J.C.Chandor. The film is set is 1981, NewYork city . A year with the highest recorded street Violence. The film is about Abel Morales(played by Oscar Issac), an upcoming hearing  oil company owner. He is about to get a new brake when he gets an offer to purchase an oil port by the shore. The film begins with Abel making a deal with the Jews and he has 30 more days to seal the deal. The rest of the film is about Abel, if he closes the deal or not.

Jessica Chastian  playes Anna Morales, Abel's wife. Her character in the film is one of the significant, filled with intrigue. We do not know of her past, but it is clear from incidents between Abel and Anna that Abel is afraid of her recklessness and asked to calm down and let him handle the situation ( as though there is terrible things she is capable of , ans she has done many of those)
The film has many untold stories, Abel's past and  how is his relation with Julien is untold. But we know that they are friends and something happened in the middle. Anna Morales is another mystery, she is strong willed women and she expects her husband to be a strong person as well. There is some mention about her family in the film but we could only speculate that she was a daughter of a big mob boss.

Abel Morales runs a honest business( at least that what he says till the end of the film). His competitor doesn't like his growth and all his competitors plot ways to stop him. His trucks are regularly gets stolen. One of his childhood friends Julien, works as a driver gets beaten up and is sent to the hospital. The situation becomes worse when Julien gets caught using a firearm during a robber. To protect his business Abel convinces him to surrender. Julien flees, ends up committing suicide at the end.

At the end of the film, Abel learns that he has not lead an honest life, all the people who were close to him, his wife, his assistant have hidden secrets from him. All his competitors are trying ways to stop him. In one of the meeting Morales tells to them " Stop Have some pride in what you do"

At the end his friend commits suicide , he makes a deal with the DA to wipe it out from the history as it may affect his career. he finally lerns , people can be righteous in this business.

Verdict:

This is a old school film, I am not just taking about the timeline but the way it has been shot and the storyline as such. It is about honarable trade and family run business. The director in many ways wanted to pay a tribute to the director of 1980s -Francis Ford Cuppola, clint Eastwood etc

Oscar's role in the film is radically different from what we have seen so far. This is Jessica Chastian 's most bold character till date. It's even better than Zero Dark Thirty.