A good but not great semi-mobster movie that takes place in New York City in 1981. Relatively low budget with no great cinematography and almost no background music and minimal violence. This was not your ordinary De Nero crime movie but it holds your interest till the end. (Sandy liked it VERY MUCH). I found the ending somewhat weak.
Set during the winter of 1981 -- statistically one of the most crime-ridden of New York City's history -- A MOST VIOLENT YEAR is a drama following the lives of an immigrant (Abel) and his wife as they attempt to capitalize on the American Dream, while the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built. In the end, a little too much rides on what we make of this couple and their partnership, and the movie, well-conceived as it is, lacks real emotional relationships between people.
From Other Reviews:
The story has the feel of a morality tale with action sequences. Abel is a man who has risen and made good. His camel-hair coat looks as fresh as butterscotch, almost too new. His hair is combed into a slight pompadour, and he bears more than a passing resemblance to Al Pacino as the young Michael Corleone. He has married into the family business and was once a driver for the company that he now owns with Anna.
Her father was a Brooklyn mobster but Abel wants to be different; he wants to play things straight. Yet there's straight and there's straight; there's a nice scene in which he schools his salesmen in the art of manipulation. How to get a foot in the door. How to pause and draw out a response. How to accept hospitality in a way that helps cement the sale. Nothing illegal: just the art of the deal.
But competitors seem to have it in for Abel and his company, and they're using old-school methods of intimidation, theft, escalating violence. The question the director seems to be posing is, can things go the way Abel wants them to? What must he do for this to happen? What compromises must he make?
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