--- title: "A Most Violent Year: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/a-most-violent-year/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/a-most-violent-year" critics_score: 75 critics_reviews: 26 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # A Most Violent Year (2014): what the critics said Critics' score 75 from 26 reviews: 21 positive, 3 mixed, 2 negative. Most critics come away impressed. Twenty-one of the twenty-six reviews are positive, and the praise gathers around Oscar Isaac, whose quiet, controlled performance as a businessman trying to stay clean is singled out more than anything else, with Jessica Chastain’s fiercer turn close behind. J.C. Chandor’s direction draws comparisons to Sidney Lumet’s New York dramas, and several reviews admire Bradford Young’s photography of a decaying 1981 city. The general view is of a patient, grown-up thriller built on moral choices rather than gunfire. That patience is also where the reservations sit. The doubters find it slow, talky and solemn, and note that the violence the title promises mostly stays off screen; several call the ending an anticlimax, and Variety thinks the late twist unnecessary. Chastain’s character is faulted as thinly drawn or, in Paste’s view, close to caricature. The spread is wider than the average suggests: Collider dismisses it as a repetitive slog about business meetings, though it is a lonely voice. ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 6 November 2014. Festival review. Chandor delivers again with a compelling tale of dog-eat-dog capitalism in 1980s New York. Oscar Isaac gives a superb, breakthrough performance as a businessman trying to stay clean in a dirty world. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/a-violent-year-afi-fest-747279/) ## Slant Magazine — Christopher Gray Rating 3.5/4. 15 December 2014. Chandor prioritizes issues of individual agency in a parable about capitalism’s moral corruption, with Isaac delivering a cold, compelling performance. The film asserts that action requires corruption and builds suspense around ethical decision-making. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/a-most-violent-year/) ## Film Comment — Jonathan Romney Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 5 December 2014. Chandor has delivered a tough, mature, substantial piece of old-fashioned storytelling and a proper nail-biter set in a harsh, battle-scarred 1981 New York. The film stands out for its impressive, substantial quality and the way it explores the collision of crime, business, politics, and home life. [Read the review](https://www.filmcomment.com/film-of-the-week-a-most-violent-year/) ## Financial Times — Nigel Andrews Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 22 January 2015. The critic describes the film as a smartly scarifying drama-thriller masterfully done, with characters bled of self-assurance. It is commended for its nuanced acting by Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain and its ballet-of-doom style, set against a bewitching Manhattan backdrop. [Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/d3498c38-a227-11e4-aba2-00144feab7de) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 30 December 2014. The critic hails it as a gripping throwback to character-driven New York melodramas like those of Sidney Lumet, praising its crackling situations, taut dialogue, and the visual romance of a decrepit city in decay. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-most-violent-year-review-20141231-column.html) ## The AV Club — Mike D'Angelo Rating B+. 29 December 2014. Chandor turns in another solid film, bringing a gritty Lumet-style New York corruption tale to life with strong performances. The story effectively details how moral gray areas shade into darkness, though Anna's character is somewhat problematic. [Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/j-c-chandor-takes-another-left-turn-with-the-gritty-a-1798182296) ## Radio Times — Jeremy Aspinall Rating 4/5. This seductive slow-burner is a gripping drama of survival and ambition in 1981 New York, with magnetic performances from Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain. The tense, subtly evocative Big Apple tale is praised for potentially positioning Chandor as a successor to Sidney Lumet. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-2cx1cm/a-most-violent-year/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 22 January 2015. The critic finds the film a severe and sinewy drama-thriller about an ambitious businessman trying to build a legitimate empire in 1981 New York. It is praised for its strong performances, especially by Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, and its blend of crime and city drama elements, though noted for a touch of sentimental melodrama at the end. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/jan/22/a-most-violent-year-review-jessica-chastain) ## The New Yorker — David Denby Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 5 January 2015. The critic calls the film an anti-Godfather entrepreneurial fable, praising Chandor's sense of how a certain corner of the world works and Oscar Isaac's movie-star performance as the hard-charging immigrant businessman. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/01/12/dirty-oil) ## Time Out — Joshua Rothkopf Rating 4/5. 7 November 2014. Chandor delivers an absorbing, no-bull New York period drama that shows bone-deep confidence and places him among uncompromising filmmakers. The dense, flavoursome municipal stew and believable cast are singled out for praise, despite a skeletal central relationship. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/a-most-violent-year) ## Variety Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 7 November 2014. Festival review. The critic praises the tough, gritty, richly atmospheric thriller for its sustained low-boil tension, complex plot navigation, and confirmation of Chandor and Isaac as major talents, while noting a wholly unnecessary last-minute twist. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/film-review-a-most-violent-year-1201348496/) ## Empire — Angie Errigo Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 23 January 2015. The critic praises Chandor's smart, unpredictable direction and the film's moral complexity in a story of an immigrant businessman navigating crime and corruption in 1981 New York. Isaac and Chastain deliver standout performances as the ambitious couple facing ethical compromises. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/violent-year-3-review/) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 January 2015. The review highlights the strong chemistry and rivalry between Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain as a husband-and-wife team in a tense crime drama set in 1980s New York. It notes impressive cinematography but criticizes the film for downplaying the brutality of its criminal world. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/a-most-violent-year-film-review-oscar-isaac-and-jessica-chastain-demonstrate-the-sexual-tension-and-rivalry-between-a-husband-and-wife-looking-to-make-it-big-9997495.html) ## IndieWire — James Rocchi Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 December 2014. A slow-burning and rewarding character study that examines moral compromise in business. Chandor crafts a tense drama centered on ethical dilemmas in a corrupt industry. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-slow-burning-and-rewarding-a-most-violent-year-starring-oscar-isaac-jessica-chastain-268828/) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 7 November 2014. Festival review. Chandor continues to make distinctive films, here offering a stylish, moody character study with weary gravity and captivating examination of its protagonist. Isaac's inner fire is praised, though the film is muddled when reaching for sweeping social commentary. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/a-most-violent-year/5079602.article) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott Rating Critic's Pick. 30 December 2014. The critic finds the film more brooding than brutal, praising its pulpy, meaty quality and Chandor's direction alongside Bradford Young's cinematography for capturing historical credibility and expressive power in a decaying New York City. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/31/movies/a-most-violent-year-with-oscar-isaac-and-jessica-chastain.html) ## Little White Lies — Adam Woodward Rating 4/3/3. 22 January 2015. The critic finds the premise of a pacifist gangster intriguing but the film strangely disaffecting and slightly unsatisfying overall. Oscar Isaac is praised for delivering as the lead in this period crime drama. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/a-most-violent-year) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 2014. The film holds attention with its gravity and forces respect for its ambitions, but it is talky, repetitive, and overly solemn. It lacks the violence its title promises and feels overcomposed. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2014/12/movie-review-a-most-violent-year.html) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating A. 29 December 2014. The review highlights the film's slow-burn drama about compromises in the American Dream, commending the performances, cinematography, and subtle rewards for close attention. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/review-slow-burning-and-rewarding-a-most-violent-year-starring-oscar-isaac-jessica-chastain-20141229/) ## Eye for Film — Anne-Katrin Titze Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 17 December 2014. The critic calls it 2014's best film, praising Chandor's complex, dialogue-driven exploration of ambition, fear, and capitalism through precise scenes and objects in 1981 New York. [Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/a-most-violent-year-2014-film-review-by-anne-katrin-titze) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 November 2014. The critic hails J.C. Chandor as one of the most fascinating filmmakers working today after his third strong feature. The review praises the lead performances by Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain as well as the film's skillful blend of character drama and thrilling sequences. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/a-most-violent-year-review-jessica-chastain-oscar-isaac-chase-the-american-dream-by-hook-or-by-crook/) ## Den of Geek — Don Kaye Rating 4/5. 10 November 2014. Chandor has made perhaps his most complete and satisfying film to date, a gritty urban thriller with crisp, economical direction, superb action setpieces, and an extraordinary lead performance from Isaac. Some characters feel underserved and the ending is low-key, but these are minor quibbles. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/a-most-violent-year-review/) ## The Skinny — Chris Fyvie Rating ★★★★. 23 January 2015. Chandor’s slow-burn mood piece body-swerves genre clichés with a quietly seething lead performance from Isaac and a fiery turn from Chastain, plus beautiful sepia-tinged cinematography and an unsettling score. It is vital, engaging cinema from a filmmaker now three for three. [Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-releases/a-most-violent-year) ## Digital Spy — Emma Dibdin Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 23 January 2015. Chandor probes urgent ideas about gun control and proportional response in a brooding, meticulous crime drama that shrewdly upends genre expectations and features dynamite chemistry between Isaac and Chastain. It is let down by an over-reliance on not doing versus doing, resulting in anticlimax and a lack of final weight. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a623534/a-most-violent-year-review-oscar-isaac-in-brooding-crime-drama/) ## Collider — Matt Goldberg Rating D. 30 December 2014. The critic calls the film a repetitive slog focused on business meetings and loan-seeking rather than violence or crime drama elements, wasting its talented cast and setting on familiar American Dream themes. [Read the review](https://collider.com/a-most-violent-year-review/) ## Paste — Norm Schrager Rating 6.9. 31 December 2015. Chandor's most flawed film to date is an ambitious but uneven period drama that aspires to classic status without full cohesion; Isaac delivers a magnetic lead performance while Chastain's character veers into caricature. [Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/a-most-violent-year) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/a-most-violent-year.md