Peculiar Reviewer

There is a lot of crap out there. So when something like A Most Violent Year comes along, it is my pleasure to bring that cinematic option to you. Director J.C. Chandor 's follow-up to his engaging lost-at-sea picture All Is Lost , is the gritty crime drama A Most Violent Year . Now, I am not one to seek out crime dramas past the mid '90s, but it was clear to me watching his previous feature that Chandor is a talented new director. The film unites Jessica Chastain ( Interstellar , Zero Dark Thirty ) with her former Juilliard classmate Oscar Isaac ( Inside Llewyn Davis , W.E. ), whom she suggested for the lead after Javier Bardem dropped out.  A Most Violent Year is set in New York City during a cold winter of 1981, statistically the highest crime year the city had seen. Amidst this chilling backdrop, the ambitious owner of a growing heating-oil delivery company, Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac), is being investigated under suspicion of corruption, by the District Attorney. Abel ...

"All is lost here except for soul and body," explains sailor Robert Redford in the message-in-a-bottle he drops into the vast Indian Ocean. Set adrift on memory bliss, "our man" Redford is lost alone at sea after he finds his ship, the Virginia Jean, has collided with a shipping container and is filling up with water. Against all odds and perfect storms, our MacGyver sailor fights coming to terms with his maritime mortal future, going into survival mode during the endless summer gone wrong in All Is Lost .  Director J.C. Chandor ( Margin Call ) wastes no time and drops the viewer in the ocean from the beginning scene of All Is Lost . Redford's character doesn't need a character intro, flashback, or a Hollywood sob story to connect the audience with the sailor. We instantly root for him to survive because Redford plays it cool like Clint Eastwood - and calm like Marlon Brando. Redford is sharp and on-point, carrying the entire movie without a supporting...