I give 8 stars for this - that by the current Imdb standards counts as a 10. It's the second movie I watched by Chandor, and the second hit (the other being Margin Call). Chandor has a killer istinct for clichés, he takes one and then works it from the inside making a piece of art out of it. He goes for the core reality of those tropes (actual or perceived) and then slaps it in your face with intense, essential dialogues, real-life language, straight situations, and deep characters. This was very apparent in A Most Violent Year, because right from the start it follows this double pattern: a super-idealized setting from 1981, and a modernized storytelling. Cinematography was outstanding, with beautiful yellows, washed-out colors and disturbingly dim lighting for the interiors - just like many movie from the eighties. The soundtrack was on par, with a simple, monotone and saddening theme, straight from the eighties as well. Casting Oscar Isaac was a stroke of genius, cause he's a dead ringer for Erik Estrada. Now about the story itself, I would say that it's surprising and weird, though being very earthbound at the same time. It's someway... reverse-surprising, but I won't spoiler anything about it.