The Accountant [2016] is the new powerhouse film starring those we all love like Ben Affleck (sadly not as Batfleck), Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons and the rising Jon Bernthal. Affleck is our main lead as a mysterious accountant who has a more particular set of skills than Liam Neeson. As the supporting cast begins to unfold the real story behind this accountant they perhaps learn more than they never wanted to know.
Ben AWESOME-fleck: We have seen Ben Affleck as a bank robber in Boston, a guy down on his luck in Boston, a Romantic Comedy idol, Kevin Smith’s money gobbler and now even Batman. However, think of your favorite Ben Affleck role and then go watch this film. Not only does Ben rival his best friend’s action skills (Matt Damon), but he taps into a character who does have a form of autism. Think back to Ryan Gosling in Lars and the Real Girl [2007] and Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler [2014] - now take the qualities you either loved and/or felt uncomfortable by and you have Ben Affleck’s “accountant”. This character truly deserves his way into the James Bond/Jason Bourne/Ethan Hunt debate as well as “who is the most genius fictional film character of all time?”
Diamond in the Rough: I have been heavily disappointed by action films of this nature in recent years. The Accountant creates a new direction that action films need to take. There's thriller and drama mixed in with the blood and bullets that some films of past have tried to accomplish but it has not stuck, yet. But when you have Bill Dubuque (The Judge) behind the script and Gavin O’ Connor (Warrior) behind the camera directing this script and its actors, we as an audience benefit greatly. Skyfall [2012] and Sicario [2015] are the most recent action/drama/thriller films that successfully made an attempt to shift the action film culture, which has been struggling since its glory of the 1980s and 1990s. The Accountant easily is added to that short list with an overwhelming and dominant presence.
The Little Things: Beyond this film trying to be different in big ways, it is able to have an impact in small moments as well - as long as you pay attention. I found myself smirking at the details O’Connor fit into the midst of intense scenes that seemed to demand attention. But if you can take a step back and not be completely sucked into the focal points of the film then you can learn more about the characters that thankfully we did not have to learn through mindless exposition.
Third Act Stumble: It is difficult to end a movie. Plain and simple. Action films probably suffer the most when trying to end. The Accountant, sadly, is no different. As the third act is introduced (yes there is actually a drawn out scene that has to introduce us to a third act, like a secret act in between the second and third) we have an overload of action film cliches. Then after a very strange and slightly predictable shootout, the movie ends - five different times. There are at least five different ending sequences. The film simply could not figure out which one was a better resolution so it just went with all of them.
The Accountant delivers in a big way
and helps the push towards a better action film culture.
