A Most Violent Year (2014) - 2/5

It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the idea behind this movie, and the acting and cinematography are excellent. It’s just too slow to end up with little to no point justifying its existence. The stakes are always murkily abstract and the main characters don’t even seem to know how to accomplish them. Each potential solution is introduced almost immediately before being resolved, so the whole movie seems like its treading water.

Closest comparison: It’s like Wall Street (1987) by way of Inside Llewyn Davis.

Setting: Business Drama
Plot: Difficult Times
Tone: Slow Burn Drama