Hi everyone, Bryan here….
‘The Accountant‘ is not just about someone who does people’s taxes and saves people money? It’s so much more than that with Gavin O’Connor’s (Miracle, Warrior) film ‘The Accountant‘, starring Ben Affleck or as we all know him now as ‘Batman‘. ‘The Accountant‘ is a mix between Jason Bourne, Rain Man, and John Wick as we follow a man named Christian Wolff (if that’s his real name?) who was diagnosed as a high-functioning autistic kid at a young age. He had an affinity for numbers and solving puzzles, and was super quick to do so. He might have just been a superhero from an early age.
His father raised him to harness his abilities in unorthodox ways, such as teaching the young “accountant” kung-fu skills and how to shoot a number of guns. Instead of running off to Las Vegas to count cards, this kid grew up into Ben Affleck and is a legit account, but for a ton of drug cartels and super criminals around the world. No, he’s not a bad guy, as he has a heart of gold, and will take out the bad guys one by one if they try and come after him with great ease.
That’s where we enter our story where John Lithgow hires Ben Affleck to look at the books for his robotic company and all hell breaks loose when people start ending up dead. Meanwhile, J.K. Simmons who works for the CIA wants to know who this “accountant” is and why he’s hanging out with another timid accountant (Anna Kendrick). Bullets fly by at an incredible rate throughout the film and there is some excellent fight choreography that will make yo believe Ben Affleck is indeed that BADASS! I mean, there are certain scenes in this film where Affleck should have just worn the cape and cowl and been called Batman.
On the other side, Affleck’s character is awkward, shy, and monotone, but you can tell that the character desperately wants to fit in and be normal, which Affleck shows on screen in every scene. There are a ton of genuine and even funny moments with him and his ticks and it all plays out great. J.K. Simmons does a hell of a job here as someone who has a haunted past, as Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Lithgow all turn in excellent performances.
The film as a whole is fairly predictable, even though Gavin O’Connor tries to pull the sheets over our eyes, but if you were paying any sort of attention at the start of the film, you could tell where ‘The Accountant‘ was going to tally up the sum (apologies). For a two hour action film, the stories, performance, and script all have a bit of depth and charm to put it above the rest and should really give the ‘Bourne‘ franchise a run for its money. Come on, it’s what we’ve always wanted. Affleck vs Damon in a steel cage match somewhere in Rome. Think of the possibilities.
Recommended!
-Bryan Kluger