Miles to Go is the feature film debut of writer/director/editor/star Quincy Rose in which he brings a personal touch to a similarly personal story, albeit one overrun—and at times completely weighed down—by its influences. The story follows Los Angeles-based writer Miles (Rose) who attempts to navigate and understand a renewed interest in on-again-off-again girlfriend Julia (Jen McPherson), a person who has brought stability to his life and allowed him to embrace his creative side. Is he really interested in her though or just enjoying the creative space he finds himself in when he’s with her? Is the relationship doomed to fail once again? Are all relationships meant to fail (as Miles often suggests)? These are the questions Miles constantly faces throughout the film and grapples with. And like his greatest influence (and godfather), Woody Allen, Rose tries to tackle these questions in a witty, neurotic and sometimes philosophical way. Ultimately, his efforts don’t click as well as his inspiration, adding up to pale imitation.

The story begins with Miles in a rut both creatively and romantically and trying desperately to reconnect with ex-girlfriend Julia. The problem in his plan is that they clearly do not work together. After trying with no success to get her on the phone Miles goes over to her house uninvited in an attempt to talk to her, instead they have sex only to immediately begin fighting afterwards which leads to Julia demanding Miles leave. Later Julia drunk dials Miles in an effort that goes nowhere. The next day she invites him out for coffee to apologize, embarrassed by what happened the night before. It’s from here that the two begin to casually renew their relationship letting it build to something more serious. Despite succeeding in what he set out to do, Miles is unsure if this is really what he wants or needs and so his self-destructive tendencies start to come around.

Later scenes in the film benefit from Rose finding a more unique voice, but the first half is greatly weighed down by a desire to replicate the feel of a classic Woody Allen romantic comedy. Rose’s performance comes across as a lesser Woody Allen impression—or what Woody Allen would be if he were a character on Portlandia. But while Allen’s personality is an essential element to his films, Rose’s lack of originality in the early stages of Miles to Go distracts from the story and the stronger elements of the film.

Miles to Go is also reminiscent of fellow neurotic comedian/writer/director Albert Brooks’ 1981 film Modern Romance, exploring a cyclical on-again-off-again romance and the self-destructive tendencies involved in such a relationship. Unfortunately, Rose’s debut mostly fails to impress due to its inability to come full circle and find its own balance. The comedic scenes either really hit or fall completely flat. The film brings up interesting dramatic conflicts and either abandons them or further “explores” them via poorly constructed and completely pointless scenes between Miles and his therapist, Lucy (Maggie Rowe). The therapist scenes superfluously discuss dramatic beats we’ve previously seen without adding any insight and effectively drag down the film draining what drama the film was building towards. Another issue with these scenes is how self-satisfying they are as Lucy constantly complements Miles for always being so funny and interesting. Combined with Rose’s over-reliance on his influences, the film nearly sinks early on but is able to finish strong thanks to its supporting cast and crew.

While Rose struggles as a director and the lead, McPherson excels and crafts an interesting, relatable and charming character over the course of the film. McPherson is so strong her presence is missed when she’s absent from scenes. She’s able to turn what at first seems like a very clichéd and rather thankless role into the best performance in the film and one of the biggest strengths the film has going for it. Outside of a lone dinner scene, McPherson only shares the screen with Rose’s Miles and it’s in these scenes that his performance and the film works best.

Rounding out the main supporting cast are Zack Tiegen as best friend Sydney and Toni Romano-Cohen as older sister Alexandra. Tiegen features in a few scenes spread out over the film and works his way from annoying to bearable and eventually to likable (much like the film itself). Initially a very one-note, almost misogynistic character who doesn’t really change or show that much depth, but he does fill the comedic best friend role more admirably as the film continues. One particular scene—between Miles and Sydney arguing over who is “the worst”—is among the funniest in the film. Romano-Cohen is only present in one scene, though we’re given some idea of her character thanks to several phones calls throughout the film, and she does a solid job as Miles’ depressed sister. Unfortunately the scene doesn’t add very much to the story.

On the technical side, cinematographer Amza Moglan really shines here in the way he’s able to bring an appropriately intimate and lived-in feel to the production. It doesn’t feel like most small-budget films that take advantage of rough handheld work to create an intimate environment, there are some wonderfully composed and executed shots in Moglan’s work here. A shot of Miles running is particularly beautiful as it travels with him. In addition to Moglan, Rose actually shows some of his strength as a filmmaker with his editing on the film. The two complement each other quite well here and Rose is able to keep scenes moving and more interesting with his editing.

Rose proves a filmmaker worth keeping an eye on, proving his ability to craft an interesting story and utilize collaborators. Hopefully he’s able hone these skills and develop his style and voice to the point that he’s not relying so heavily on his influences to fill in the gaps. These influences are important and help inform the good work Rose does in the film as well, but hopefully he can strike a better balance in the future.

Miles to Go is available on VOD April 28th.

J.C. Chandor’s third feature, A Most Violent Year, is set in 1981 New York City, a year that saw a dramatic spike in criminal activity (hence the odd title). Oscar Isaac plays Abel Morales, a young, self-made entrepreneur and family man who runs a heating oil business with his mob-princess wife Anna (Jessica Chastain), who handles the books. He’s an ambitious, confident mogul who’s always moving forward. His competitors in the cutthroat home-heating market run their operations like mobsters, but Abel’s got more class than that. He covets transparency and morality, and unlike his rivals, he can sleep at night with a clear conscience (though he’s no stranger to shady back room dealings). “I run a fair and clean business, and I will fight to my last breath to prove that.”

A Most Violent Year is about a man protecting his honor at all costs while the rest of the world, even his family, conspires to strip him of it. The son of Hispanic immigrants, Abel started from the bottom as a heating-oil truck driver and eventually moved up the ranks, married his boss’ daughter, and bought the company from his father-in-law, who played the game as dirty as Abel’s rival merchants. With the company in his hands, he turned things around and made it a clean operation. He’s looking to expand, too: a piece of waterfront real estate looks to be the key to cornering the oil market, and he’s got 30 days to close the deal.

Abel’s a man of conviction, constantly in pursuit of the American dream, but all that surrounds him is nightmarish. The rampant violence and corruption of the city threaten to tarnish his squeaky-clean business on the daily, and jeopardize his chances of closing the waterfront deal. As a result of the vicious turf war, his truck drivers are getting held at gunpoint, his salesmen are getting roughed up, and he even finds an armed goon prowling around his McMansion late at night while his wife and kids are home. Surely arming himself and his crew for protection would be the smart thing to do, but he’s not cut from that cloth.

Reluctantly, Abel allows his drivers to carry guns on their deliveries (the first in a series of moralistic compromises), but refuses to tote one himself. When Anna buys a pistol as a knee-jerk reaction to the would-be home invader, Abel loses his mind. “I don’t want anything do to with this!” he roars. If he or she were to ever be seen holding a gun, his reputation would crumble. Adding to Abel’s stack of problems is a district attorney (David Oyelowo) who’s sniffing around the oil industry in search of corruption and malfeasance. It’s a terribly twisty plot, but Chandor’s pace is set at a slow, steady boil to make it digestible. The tension mounts in small increments, until it’s so thick by the film’s final act you feel like you’re suffocating (in a good way).

On two separate occasions Chandor shows us Abel running through the sooty, sapped NYC streets, and together these scenes comprise the film’s most poetic artistic statement. As the film opens, we see him on a morning exercise run, flying past graffitied walls, past run-down buildings, past the urban malaise: he’s running toward a brighter future. Later, we see him running again, in an impeccably-shot foot chase sequence on railroad tracks that sees him hunting down an enemy, gun in hand, with vengeance and violence on his mind: he’s running toward the devil. He’s lost himself, and the film’s real suspense lies in the question of whether Abel’s will is strong enough to not succumb to the unscrupulous ways of the crime lord.

Isaac is a convincing kingpin, always looking invincible in his mustardy double-breasted coat, but Abel’s so monomaniacal sometimes that he feels less like a human being and more like a crime movie cliché. The same can be said for Chastain, who acts with so much kick and venom that it’s a hit-or-miss situation: she either nails Chandor’s sizzling one-liners and looks like a badass, or she overshoots her lines and comes off like a factory-issue mob-movie wife (the wonky Brooklyn accent doesn’t help). They’ve got chemistry together, though, and generate some real energy in their heated domestic arguments. Taking nothing away from their acting abilities (I’m a big fan of them both), I don’t feel like they were necessarily the best fits for their respective roles.

One piece of the story that feels under-developed is the reasoning behind Abel shedding every bit of his immigrant heritage. One can easily suppose that he did it to make his image more appealing on his way up to the top of the mountain, but that’s an uninteresting supposition to make. Julian (Elyes Gabel), one of Abel’s drivers who gets hijacked and beaten, is Hispanic as well, and Abel’s conversations with him are the only time we hear him speak Spanish. There’s a loose symbolism that Julian represents the former life Abel’s left behind (to detail this would be too spoiler-y), but it’s clunky symbolism at best.

Like Chandor’s first film, Margin Call, A Most Violent Year boasts a supporting cast of vets that add gravity and richness to the proceedings. Oyelowo, Albert Brooks, Peter Gerety, and Jerry Adler make brief, but impactful appearances. Bradford Young’s (Selma, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints) cinematography is ashy, atmospheric and textured, and coupled with the phenomenal period set and costume design makes New York City look downright apocalyptic compared to the shining culture hub it is today. Chandor pays homage to Sidney Lumet’s Prince of the City and Serpico as far as the milieu he’s created: it’s a city full of tough guys and alpha dogs who were born to screw each other over and hold meetings in dingy, poorly-lit rooms.

A Most Violent Year is my least favorite of Chandor’s films. I’m still a fan, though; the fact that he went from All is Lost, a boiled-down fable pitting a man against the elements, to a labyrinthine crime picture like this verifies for me that he’s one of the most exciting directors working today. Just like Abel, it’s not in Chandor’s nature to sit still; he’s always moving forward.

J.C. Chandor‘s first two films, Margin Call and All Is Lost couldn’t have been more different — the first was a talky, smart depiction of Wall Street’s collapse and the second a quiet, small-scale tale of one man’s survival. For his third film, A Most Violent Year, Chandor is taking a look at the lives of an immigrant family in New York City during the crime-filled winter of 1981.

A Most Violent Year is now set for a December 31, 2014 release in New York and Los Angeles, before expanding in early 2015. The release puts it in prime contention for this year’s wide-open Oscar races — though Chandor’s films have arguably under-performed with the Academy, the film sports a great cast (Jessica Chastain, Oscar Isaac, David Oyelowo and Albert Brooks) and Chandor will most likely be considered for original screenplay.

The film will be released by A24 Films, which has only existed since 2013 but has quickly become a hotspot for daring indie films. The company is most notable for Spring Breakers, Obvious Child and Under the Skin.

While we wait to hear much more about the film in the coming weeks, check out the first trailer for A Most Violent Year below:

Nicholas Winding Refn’s Drive is a gloriously brutal love letter to action movies of the 70’s, featuring a lead character that doesn’t even have a name, a fantastic synth-pop score and soundtrack and very well stage action set pieces. Drive is one of the best films of the year. Not even wasting a second to get started, the film opens with a fantastic scene involving our hero at work as he drives two thugs to a warehouse somewhere in L.A.

Our hero is quickly put to the test when the cops catch a whiff of his trail. Showing exceptional driving skills he leads his fare out of trouble. Refn then throws out the style. Bold, bright, italicized Pink colored credits accompanied by a slow pulsating pop song with way too much swag leads us through a night drive in L.A. with The Driver.

The Driver (with no name) is played by Ryan Gosling who is this year’s it boy for film. The guy has been around for years but it seems like this is his year to break out, and boy what a film to do it in. Gosling plays the driver as a quiet, cool and calculating young man who mostly stays to himself. But don’t be fooled. His Driver explodes with intense rage when pushed to the limits. Probably the most famous scene from the movie is proof of this as he is forced to protect the girl he is smitten with.

The girl is played by Carrie Mulligan who probably couldn’t be any cuter if she tried. She lives in the same building on the same floor as our hero. He soon forms a kinship with Mulligan and her young son. We find out that her husband is in jail and will soon be released. This doesn’t faze Gosling. When her husband is released, he almost immediately gets in to trouble with his crew. Gosling offers to help for one time and one time only.

Up until this point, the movie has been pretty tame. There are some moments of uneasiness, but nothing quite boils over. That is until Gosling ‘s offer to help. Gosling offers his services as a driver for Mulligan’s husband on one last job. The job goes completely awry and from here on out the movie is on fire. Along with the brutal elevator scene, Refn stages an unbelievably violent set piece in a hotel.

The first time I saw Drive at the Toronto International Film Festival, the audience was cheering and whistling when the hotel scene reached its apex. I’m not a champion of violence, but when something is done right I know it’s worth applauding and Refn’s action sequences are a stand up and cheer from the banisters type of effort.

I know every other critic has done this but I must echo their praises, Albert Brooks. What a performance. He’s been funny for decades. Here he plays completely against type and nails it. Here is a three dimensional villan that is so sinister, yet so, I don’t know the word for it. Understanding maybe? He doesn’t want to do the things he has to do, but he knows they are a mean to an end. I can’t wait to see his name called for an Oscar nomination in 2 months.

With all these great stars in Drive, it’s easy to forget that the real star of this film is director Nicholas Winding-Refn. The Danish director has quite the eclectic palate of late. His last 3 features couldn’t be more different. His film Bronson was an intense performance piece by the brilliant Tom Hardy. His film after that Valhalla Rising was a slow esoteric and extremely bloody look at Vikings in the highlands of Europe.

Now comes Drive, his Hollywood breakthrough. A highly stylized and a very confident film that completely stands apart from anything else released this year. Bright and colorful, full of gloss and extreme ire, Drive is a breath of fresh air. I cannot wait to see what Refn does next.