Absolutely Fantastic

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Director: J.C. Chandor Screenplay: J.C. Chandor Cast: Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola and Albert Brooks Plot: New York City 1981 an immigrant tries to keep his business afloat by any means Necessarily. Review: I really didn't like this movie because the plot is so convoluted that it took me almost the whole movie to understand what the main character does. The direction and screenplay were both poorly done. The casting and acting were poorly done also. All in all I would give this zero out of a possible five stars.

This certain cure for insomnia plays as an adaptation of scenes scraped off the cutting room floors of Godfather and Goodfellas, plus one or two from The Wolf of Wall Street. The monotony is occasionally broken up by the film's only saving grace - the chemistry between Isaac and Chastain, who shine in their scenes together. Unfortunately, they are too few and far between, and this insipid drama shows just how little it has to say about any of the themes it touches on but makes no effort to try and explore. The lack of pace, action and plot development in the screenplay make A Most Violent Year, a most exhaustingly boring film.

In a time where nearly every movie released is a special effects action fest with cardboard characters and cheesy dialogue, it truly is a breath of fresh air when a movie comes along that portrays life as it really is. This film takes a story that could easily have turned into the cliché gangster flick and turns it inside out, with a more grounded and relatable approach. The story is fascinating, the dialogue rich, and the acting is spectacular. Oscar Isaac hits it out of the park in this film and the supporting cast is just as good. The pacing and camera work fits perfectly with the story being told. I have nothing bad to say about this film, other than the fact I want more of it.

This is one movie that I kept watching, hoping that it will really become something. But then it ended. I cursed, turned off the projector and went to sleep. The biggest issue is the lack of a compelling story. There are movies that take a slice of out of someone's life and make it compelling. I guess the writer's intentions were the same, but the end result feels like a bland unfinished meal. It is sometimes hard to go by IMDb ratings to select a movie to watch. I guess if you have enough friends to write glowing reviews, you can bring the ratings up to a point. Critics I guess try not to become lone wolves by toeing the most common critic denominator line and rate it above average. After all, its their job. They don't want to look outside the mainstream. So, I have no idea why it has 7.0 rating on IMDb, it should be a solid 6 for effort, cinematography and decent acting. Nothing more. Nothing less.