The Accountant - directed by Gavin O'Connor
I enjoyed "The Accountant" so much that it wasn't until an hour after it had ended that it occurred to me what a strange movie it is.
I had assumed that Ben Affleck's accountant character would be one that merely uses the profession as cover for another profession.
He is seen using a high powered sniper rifle and an assortment of other firearms in the trailer after all.
But no- this really is a movie about an accountant and that is in fact his main profession.
And not only that but Affleck's Christian Wolff suffers from autism.
There isn't anything particularly strange about a movie about an autistic man or even a movie about a hitman or even an accountant.
But when it is one movie with all three?
Strange for sure..... but really, really good.
That this movie is good came as no surprise however.
Four years ago I saw a movie called "Warrior" because Tom Hardy was in it (review).
It turned out to be a superb movie with great acting, writing and above all- direction.
As much as Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and J.K. Simmons are draws it was the director of "Warrior" - Gavin O'Connor that made me the most excited to see "The Accountant" - his first feature since 2012 to make it to a big screen in these parts.
(O'Connor directed "Jane Got A Gun" in 2013 but the troubled production resulted in a US only theatrical release and on dvd/blu-ray elsewhere)
The trailer was a masterclass in the art with its slow build to a frenetic, gunfire laden conclusion.
And it is entirely representative of the final film which is also nicely paced, intriguing and tone-wise completely what was advertised.
The film begins with a superbly well shot sequence in which a man moves his way through a building littered with men with single bullets in their heads to confront another who is presumably the man responsible for said bullets.
We then meet accountant Christian Wolff (Affleck) who is indeed operating as such.
He finds tax loopholes for a nice old couple to aid them in keeping their property and their credit card balance reasonable.
We learn more about Wolff via recollections from his time as a young man struggling with autism and parental marriage issues.
His Father has a unique solution for raising he and his Brother and as more and more is revealed it isn't hard to piece together how he became the man he is in the present.
And quite a man that is too.
One character describes his skills in forensic accounting as 'supernatural' and she is not wrong.
This skill draws the attention of fellow number cruncher Dana (Kendrick) when Christian is hired by the robotics company for which she works to figure out where missing funds are going.
Here begins a romance angle of sorts.
That is an apt phrase to apply to this film - 'of sorts'.
It is an action movie of sorts..... a romance of sorts..... oftentimes a comedy.... even a psychological drama.
There is the ever present danger that it will collapse under the weight of this unusual genre blend but instead "The Accountant" emerges as unique. Smart. And very entertaining.
Affleck is perfect as Woolf and brings a nice combination of intimidating, unsettling, impressive and likeable.
He and Kendrick don't have too many scenes together and that is one of the few things that I found disappointing because they are a great pairing.
There is humour in this film and most of it comes from the scenes that Kendrick and Affleck share.
J.K. Simmons has often been a great source of humour in previous roles but here he has exactly one funny line and the rest of the time he is in deadly serious mode and he is every bit as good as I would expect.
He plays a Treasury Agent pursuing the mysterious Wolff.
He is aided by Cynthia Addai-Robinson's analyst Marybeth Medina.
There are more strands to this tale then than are immediately obvious with the flashbacks, enforcement agents, a mysterious rival hitman and the various aspects of Christian's current situation.
O'Connor is more than up to the task and makes every moment compelling.
The action scenes are wonderfully well constructed with some real crowd-pleasing moves played out in a fashion not unlike the first "Taken" movie.
In fact the only real complaint that I have about "The Accountant" is that it isn't able to maintain the glorious level of quality quite to the end.
The conclusion is ever so slightly disappointing and more than a little predictable.
It shifts tone a bit in the final twenty minutes and it doesn't work very well.
It isn't a deal-breaker and it certainly isn't bad - just noticeable due to the excellence of the preceding 108 minutes.
It is testament to how well the movie works 90% of the time that a weak-ish ending really doesn't take much of the sheen off at all.
I liked this film a lot.
There isn't a bum note in the performances, the casting or the direction.
It is a smart movie about smart people and I found it fascinating for its entire duration.
RATING: 84 / 100
CONCLUSION: A smart, intriguing thriller that successfully mixes in romance and a little humour. Highly entertaining.
Starring: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J. K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor, John Lithgow, Jean Smart, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Alison Wright, Andy Umberger, Robert C. Treveiler, Mary Kraft, Seth Lee, Ron Prather, Susan Williams
Screenplay: Bill Dubuque
Music Score by: Mark Isham
Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey
Cinematography: Seamus McGarvey
Edited by: Richard Pearson
Running Time: 128 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R16- Violence & profanity - mild for the rating
Running Time: 128 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R16- Violence & profanity - mild for the rating
I had assumed that Ben Affleck's accountant character would be one that merely uses the profession as cover for another profession.
He is seen using a high powered sniper rifle and an assortment of other firearms in the trailer after all.
But no- this really is a movie about an accountant and that is in fact his main profession.
And not only that but Affleck's Christian Wolff suffers from autism.
There isn't anything particularly strange about a movie about an autistic man or even a movie about a hitman or even an accountant.
But when it is one movie with all three?
Strange for sure..... but really, really good.
That this movie is good came as no surprise however.
Four years ago I saw a movie called "Warrior" because Tom Hardy was in it (review).
It turned out to be a superb movie with great acting, writing and above all- direction.
As much as Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal and J.K. Simmons are draws it was the director of "Warrior" - Gavin O'Connor that made me the most excited to see "The Accountant" - his first feature since 2012 to make it to a big screen in these parts.
(O'Connor directed "Jane Got A Gun" in 2013 but the troubled production resulted in a US only theatrical release and on dvd/blu-ray elsewhere)
The trailer was a masterclass in the art with its slow build to a frenetic, gunfire laden conclusion.
And it is entirely representative of the final film which is also nicely paced, intriguing and tone-wise completely what was advertised.
 |
| Accountancy and so much more.... Ben Affleck as Christian Wolff |
We then meet accountant Christian Wolff (Affleck) who is indeed operating as such.
He finds tax loopholes for a nice old couple to aid them in keeping their property and their credit card balance reasonable.
We learn more about Wolff via recollections from his time as a young man struggling with autism and parental marriage issues.
His Father has a unique solution for raising he and his Brother and as more and more is revealed it isn't hard to piece together how he became the man he is in the present.
And quite a man that is too.
One character describes his skills in forensic accounting as 'supernatural' and she is not wrong.
This skill draws the attention of fellow number cruncher Dana (Kendrick) when Christian is hired by the robotics company for which she works to figure out where missing funds are going.
Here begins a romance angle of sorts.
That is an apt phrase to apply to this film - 'of sorts'.
It is an action movie of sorts..... a romance of sorts..... oftentimes a comedy.... even a psychological drama.
There is the ever present danger that it will collapse under the weight of this unusual genre blend but instead "The Accountant" emerges as unique. Smart. And very entertaining.
 |
| Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor and Jean Smart |
He and Kendrick don't have too many scenes together and that is one of the few things that I found disappointing because they are a great pairing.
There is humour in this film and most of it comes from the scenes that Kendrick and Affleck share.
J.K. Simmons has often been a great source of humour in previous roles but here he has exactly one funny line and the rest of the time he is in deadly serious mode and he is every bit as good as I would expect.
He plays a Treasury Agent pursuing the mysterious Wolff.
He is aided by Cynthia Addai-Robinson's analyst Marybeth Medina.
There are more strands to this tale then than are immediately obvious with the flashbacks, enforcement agents, a mysterious rival hitman and the various aspects of Christian's current situation.
O'Connor is more than up to the task and makes every moment compelling.
The action scenes are wonderfully well constructed with some real crowd-pleasing moves played out in a fashion not unlike the first "Taken" movie.
 |
| J.K. Simmons and Cynthia Addai-Robinson |
The conclusion is ever so slightly disappointing and more than a little predictable.
It shifts tone a bit in the final twenty minutes and it doesn't work very well.
It isn't a deal-breaker and it certainly isn't bad - just noticeable due to the excellence of the preceding 108 minutes.
It is testament to how well the movie works 90% of the time that a weak-ish ending really doesn't take much of the sheen off at all.
I liked this film a lot.
There isn't a bum note in the performances, the casting or the direction.
It is a smart movie about smart people and I found it fascinating for its entire duration.
No comments:
Post a Comment