Vintage Review: “The Accountant” (2016)
Ben Affleck impresses as a mathematics savant with some other “exceptional skills”. It’s also rare that a fresh story of this caliber comes as a brand new screenplay, not based on anything previously published.
Imagine if you will… Robocop, Will Hunting, James Bond and Jason Bourne all rolled into one. That might, I repeat might give you a recipe for Christian Wolff, the anti-hero of the film “The Accountant”. I say anti-hero because some of his clients are, well, less than savory. But damn if you don’t root for the guy. I’ve seen this movie about five times and I still love it just as much as the first time. In fact it took until about the fifth time to fully grasp the intricacies of the plot (don’t worry, you don’t need to know them to enjoy the movie).
A common thread in almost all movies that I love is a blend of music and visuals, and almost always at least one scene that makes me cry as it blends the perfect song with the perfect moment. This movie is no exception. The song is “To Leave Something Behind” by Sean Rowe, and the scene is perfection.
As you may or may not have grasped, “flix in a flash” is a way of saying I can write short reviews of movies because I have a short attention span. So this will be short…
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This is just a bad-ass movie all around. It opens with Christian Wolff as a child, deep on the autism spectrum, with a military Father unwilling to leave him in tender and helpful hands. The Father wants Christian to learn that life is not “sensory friendly” (a great line), and it seems to have worked. Though Wolff works for some unsavory characters, he has his own unique moral code. While he seemingly won’t hesitate to kill when necessary, at the same time we get the sense that he would rescue a fly from his bathroom sink.
Chemistry and casting are wonderful. I already love Anna Kendrick, and she and Affleck connect beautifully. John Lithgow is featured as the CEO of Living Robotics, and John Bernthal, J.K. Simmons and Jeffrey Sambor all make appearances as well. Cynthia Addai-Robinson is also perfectly cast as Marybeth Medina.
The movie is like a song that gradually builds up to a climax and ends when necessary and not a moment sooner or later. Eye-opening action sequences abound, with perfectly-timed humorous moments as mobsters underestimating Christian are quickly shocked as he efficiently annihilates them one at a time.
Action, romance, backstories, secret agents, mobsters, all rolled into one. What’s not to like? I loved every second of it. I hope you do too. I also saw some of myself in Christian. The insecurity, the curiosity, the social awkwardness.
Extra note: “The Accountant 2” is currently in development, and word from the creator is that it will be a trilogy. Consider me stoked. Trailer below (any trailer that uses Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place” is a win IMO).
