Film Discussion: A Most Violent Year

If you’ve been around for a few years, the combination of New York City and 1980s will probably bring to mind a picture of a city in a toxic funk, with muggers and violence for all. It wasn’t a place you wanted to visit, really, and certainly not a place to walk around after dark.

The hero (?) of the piece is an immigrant named Abel Morales, a man who makes a questionable deal early in the film and who spends the rest of the movie trying to save both his business and his sense of integrity. Let’s just say that there is some resistance to his plans and that some lateral thinking is required.

I’m looking forward to a great performance by Oscar Isaac, who plays Morales, and also a good turn from Jessica Chastain—an actress who manages to surprise us in whatever she does—as his wife and business partner.

The critics have been generous in their praise of A Most Violent Year, from their comparisons of Isaac to a young Al Pacino to astonishment at how clearly and economically the film evokes the year 1981 in which it takes place.

My take is that even if you don’t ordinarily like crime dramas, this movie will have plenty of nutrition and entertainment value. Plus, of course, you’ll have the chance to complain about it if I’m wrong. Such a deal.

I hope to see you in The Historic Theater at 7:00. And if you’re ready to program future discussion into your Apple Watch, they will occur on April 21 (Red Army) and April 28 (An Honest Liar).

Enjoy all this sunlight.