Viewers who watched J.C. Chandor's thoughtful 'Margin Call', about the 2008 financial crisis, will see some of the same strengths in 'A Most Violent Year', whose subject is the efforts of a businessman to stay afloat in the winter of 1981. But the setup here is not entirely satisfactory: the hero is good looking, has made enough money to be able to take "I like to own what I use" as a guiding principle, is the last honest man in New York, and even briefly turns action hero to track down those who are stealing from him. Even the basic premise of the plot is a little contrived: to win a deal, he offers terms which leave him exposed to all of the risk (and needless to say, some of that risk duly materialises). The film hints at the possibility that he might not be as straight as he professes (or even believes); but ultimately, shies away from this position. Instead, the film asks us to respect a man whose goal is to drive his rivals out of business, because he plans to do so through his own innate excellence. We do see hints of his single-mindedness that are unappealing; but the film refrains from passing harsh judgement. The perfection of the character somewhat undermined my interest in what is basically a very well-constructed film.