'The Accountant' Review- An Excellent Thriller
This movie was released in 2016.
The Account is an action thriller directed by Gavin O'Connor and written by Bill Dubuque. The movie had its premiere at the TCL Chinese Theater before being released widely by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is an accountant who presents himself as a legitimate businessman who gets hired at a technology company owned by Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow). What his clients do not know is that he handles accounting for criminals, and that puts fellow accountant Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) in danger. Department of Treasury agent Raymond King (J.K. Simmons) blackmails Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) into investigating. Little do any of them know, hitman Braxton (Jon Bernthal) is also involved, and he wants the Accountant.
A lot of people criticized the movie for its portrayal of autism. I am not a mental health professional, so I will not comment on it.
As a work of cinema, I thought it was made excellently. The plot had me hooked as I watched the Accountant navigate the twisted world that he had entered. You see how his mother abandoned him and how his father decided to deal with it by giving him military training to overcome his sensory overloads. Not the best choice, but it helps develop his character.
With thrillers like these, I do not always know what to expect, but this one had me hooked as the seemingly non-threatening Accountant not only cooked the books, but took out some thugs as well.
I was a bit confused as to why the Treasury Department investigation mattered. Sure, it stands to reason that the feds would be trying to track down a mild-mannered accountant who also runs numbers for criminals, but their involvement just seemed to be for exposition dumps.
That is not a complaint about Simmons and Robinson's performances. Quite the reverse. Both of them did excellently in their roles. The same is true for Kendrick, Lithglow, and Bernthal. The three of them did fantastic jobs as well.
However, Affleck was the standout. I have criticized him for his portrayal of Daredevil and Batman because he was bad in those roles, but when he does a role like this, it makes me believe that he just had bad directors. He sold me on his performance as the Accountant and was the driving force that made the movie so good.
Mark Isham, who also did the soundtrack for Blade, composed the score for the movie, and it complemented it perfectly. It hit all the right notes for every scene, weaving it in just right for this sort of thriller.
Bottom line, The Accountant is an excellent thriller that has a few flaws, but it keeps you hooked. You are pulled into this world and encounter so many interesting twists until the climax.
PARENTAL CONCERNS: Strong foul language, Violence
FAVORITE QUOTE: I think if you saw our books, you’d run for the hills.
Check out the trailer below:
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, or novel you would like me to review.