This is the third feature film of J. C. Chandor in as many years, after Margin Call and All Is Lost. My expectations were peaked, perhaps too much. Chandor shines a spotlight on people under serious stress, and we watch them sweat and deal with it. This seems to work best if the storyline aligns with personal experience, which need not be in the exact same arena.

In A Most Violent Year we meet immigrant businessman, Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac). He is good looking, intelligent, well dressed, ambitious, and the owner of a successful heating oil company in NYC, one that may be crossing lines and under the scrutiny of authorities. He is married to the beautiful and street smart Anna (Jessica Chastain), who keeps the books, raises their perfect kids, and live the good life in a big house in the burbs.

All seems well as Abel is about to purchase a large oil storage depot and grow his business big time. About to close the deal bad things start to happen. A home intruder with a gun, the hijacking of his trucks, and the mugging of a young sales associate. None of this ruffles the self-assured Morales. He continues to run on his wits and basic belief in himself, until the bank pulls out of the deal. Unless he can come up with the cash ($1,5M) in a week, all is lost. It looks bleak.

Anna is now quite unhappy, most about what she sees as Abel's passivity, and offers the assistance of her mob connected father. Undaunted, but feeling disrespected by his wife, Abel is determined to find a way out, without compromising a set of values which have always worked for him. What happens then to Abel and his family is the substance of this movie.

Chandor's storytelling and direction has a certain flair and originality that is quite refreshing, but it is a long way from Bergman. There is violence in the movie, but it is relatively low key, compared with others out there. This movie is basically all about watching Abel deal with his predicament. Some of it predictable, some not. If you like this kind of dramatic emphasis, you may enjoy the movie.