Though it has been proved several times throughout our history that nice guys finish last, Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) is determined to be a good man and a successful business executive. But times are tough, and it's 1981 — the most crime-riddled year in New York's history. Take the first few minutes of the film, for instance. Just as he's making an important deal, one of his cargo drivers is severely beaten by some enemy henchmen who steal the truck. Abel wants to conduct his company as smoothly as possible (what businessman doesn't?), but fighting violence with violence seems to be the only answer to his problems as of late. Adding to the increasing difficulties is the District Attorney (David Oyelowo), who is certain that misconduct is plaguing the finances of the company.

In his third feature as a director, J.C. Chandor pays homage to the neo-noirs of Brian De Palma and Sidney Lumet, mimicking their underlying ferociousness with unwavering detail regarding the human side of the crime world. His other features ("Margin Call", "All Is Lost"), unseen by me, were lauded by critics for their virtuosic filmmaking. "Margin Call", a fictional account of the financial crisis of 2008, was praised for its crackling dialogue and unwavering tension; "All Is Lost", a near-silent depiction of a shipwreck, gave Robert Redford the role of a lifetime and acted as a thriller without the flash of its peers.

Three movies into his career, it's clear that Chandor doesn't want to be a director sidelined to a particular genre like Hitchcock. He wants to flow in-between different styles and moods, a Howard Hawks of the 2010s. "A Most Violent Year" is a top-notch crime drama, but not in the ways you might expect. It's not the story that compels us, not the dialogue, but the acting, the tone, the directing. The film is as atmospheric as the best of its kind can get. Like a prisoner buried alive in an underground catacomb, "A Most Violent Year" traps us in its yellowing, graffiti adorned world; even the good guys mesh with the bad. The sweet smell of success is much too difficult to pass by.

I can't say that I was truly entertained by "A Most Violent Year" — rather than run alongside its all too rare intelligent characteristics, I instead appreciated them. But sometimes, appreciation can be just as powerful as entertainment itself. Chandor is supremely confident in his writing and his directing, giving us further reasoning as to why he is already becoming one of the best filmmakers of the decade. If we are ever bored with the film itself (which is a seldom concern), we aren't with Chandor, who gives every shot a great deal of grimy beauty and venomous snap.

Matching Chandor's rising talents are Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, college classmates whose careers seem to be hitting their peaks at the exact same time; Chastain announced her presence to the world in 2011 with an impressive six movie run (including "The Tree of Life" and "The Help"), and Isaac, coming out of nowhere, made himself an actor for the ages as the titular character in 2013's "Inside Llewyn Davis". "A Most Violent Year" finds them at the top of their respective games. Isaac jumps from unyielding to exposed, from weak to authoritative, at a constant pace, providing for one of the finest performances of 2015. Chastain, dawning a look only matched by Elvira Hancock, commands every scene she's in as the person keeping Standard Oil afloat as her husband refuses to corrupt himself and his company.

"A Most Violent Year" is an unbelievably well-directed and well-acted film, but missing is its ability to compel. Though never boring, the atmosphere is more gritty than it is truly tense, and there are a few too many characters that show up with interesting pieces of dialogue but never do much else. No matter: Chandor, in a short time, has revealed himself to be a decade defining filmmaker.