[34]
Christian’s father truly embodies the idea of “Tough Love.”
The Basic Premise
Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is a wickedly smaht mathematician who is an accountant by day and, if the event calls for it, a bad-ass book cooker/killing machine.
My Thoughts On The Characters And Story
The Accountant is ultimately an incredible character study on a man who suffers from autism and is taught, rather harshly, to not allow him being different to hinder his ability to live his life… And I honestly enjoyed everything about this film immensely. It weaves pertinent moments in Christian’s life that shaped the man he became and Affleck gives a fantastic performance. Everyone gives pretty good performances, Anna Kendrick‘s portrayal of Dana Cummings, the woman who initially notices discrepancies in this company headed by John Lithgow, is fine and her chemistry with Affleck was actually much better than I anticipated. I liked the banter the two had and believed they could potentially accumulate a close friendship. Cynthia Addai-Robinson had a good rapport with J.K Simmons and although the two were mostly used to spew exposition, I enjoyed their plot line as the crew involved with taking down this “Accountant.”
The real standouts were Affleck and Jon Bernthal. Oh my god, Jon Bernthal can honestly do no wrong in my eyes. Affleck managed to encompass everything about his character wonderfully and you genuinely believed this guy was capable of executing absolutely everything the story required of him. There were sequences where he had to perform some brutal violence one moment then a lighthearted quip occurred that didn’t make me roll my eyes, an issue many “action” films have that was simply executed brilliantly in The Accountant. Bernthal’s character was a horrifying talent who had me chuckling a few times until I realized I really shouldn’t be chuckling at what he’s saying right now but he’s so darn charming!
The Accountant’s emphasis on Christian Wolff is explored brilliantly, I know a major critique of the film is that the various plot points were difficult to follow. I do agree that one or two moments could have been explained a bit more thoroughly, however as a coherent unit I enjoyed what was unraveling on screen and certain revelations were incredible to witness. Watching this with a packed audience certainly added to my enjoyment of it since everyone was enthralled during certain sequences and the humour sprinkled throughout was a fantastic aspect to it. I genuinely laughed aloud during certain moments because of how great the humour was incorporated with each respective character…
Can I just give a quick shout out to Alison Wright, one of the most wonderful/amazing/brilliant/every subsequent synonym actresses working today?
She appears only briefly but that woman is a disgustingly amazing talent and even her brief appearance left a mark on me. Her role as Martha in FX’s The Americans is just… All kinds of wonderful.
How Were The Other Aspects Of The Film?
In a Warner Bros. YouTube featurette (~2:45) director Gavin O’Connor (Warrior, Jane Got A Gun) states the following,
“I wanted to tackle the subject matter, celebrate someone who’s different. And it’s important that we got it right.”
The film thankfully does not “Hollywoodize” mental illness like we have all grown accustomed to seeing. They portray autism and individuals who live with such disabilities wonderfully and there is never a time where I found myself thinking it was going too far or this was an inherent disrespectful portrayal, intended to shock the audience rather than add depth to the characters. O’Connor manages to showcase the action sequences in a riveting way, with not as many fast cuts or Godforsaken shaky cam and due to your connection with the characters, you genuinely give a shit of what is occurring on screen.
Many scenes had an incredible build up of tension and there is one particular sequence toward the end of the first act where I felt actual knots in my stomach. I really enjoyed this movie.
If you’re looking for a movie with fantastic violence that handles its themes with immense care and has the added bonus of a terrific performance by Ben Affleck, check out The Accountant.
The Accountant receives 4.5/5 Matt Damon heads.
ghezalplusmovies 
[…] The Accountant (2016) […]
LikeLike
[…] The Accountant (2016) […]
LikeLike