The Accountant

So I saw the trailer for the Accountant but I didn't have a strong desire to see the film. It’s the kind of film that I'd be interested in checking out via Redbox or on an airplane. So I had a flight recently and the Accountant was on the on demand selection.

The Account follows the story of Christian Wolf (played by Ben Affleck). Wolf is an Accountant with Aspergers Syndrome. He was diagnosed at an early age and instead of being treated at a school for people with disabilities, his father, a hard nosed veteran instead teaches him how to be a killing machine. Christian grows up to eventually become a professional accountant working for

international crime syndicates and high paying customers. Eventually, he is brought on to investigate possible fraud in a corporation run by a man by the name of Lamar Blackburn (played by John Lithgow).

The possible fraud is brought to light by an accountant by the name of Dana Cummings (played by Anna Kendrick), an accountant working with the company. Eventually Christian and Dana start working together to uncover a dangerous conspiracy accompanied by murder, and an assassin (played by Jon Bernthal).

All the while, the head of an investigative department of the Treasury (played by JK Simmons) and one of his agents (played by Cynthia Addai-Robinson) are hot on Christian's trail, trying to find the identity of his mysterious accountant.

Like I said, this is very much a movie, based on the plot alone, that I wouldn't be overly encouraged to go and see in theaters. It just didn't really appeal to me enough to spend a lot of money on it. As much as I like action films, there's nothing about The Accountant that really made it stand out beyond the typical action movie you could find on Netflix very easily.

However, Ben Affleck is the kind of actor that I have garnered a larger interest for multiple reasons. The first being that he used to be a very bad actor and now he's been in some good movies since and I want to see if his comeback is for real and not just a fluke. But furthermore, it's definitely a call to his career in the DC cinematic universe. Multiple things about Ben Affleck intrigue me and I want to see him be successful but I also don't want to be misguided just because he had some good movies in the past year or so.

Overall, this is not a bad performance by Affleck.

If you think about it, Ben Affleck has the ability to play a pretty charismatic guy. He's played the billionaire superhero in Bruce Wayne, he's played the cool action hero guy in multiple movies like Argo, and the Town. You'd never really expect him to play someone with a mental disability and this is actually an opportunity for his acting to expand and show he's able to play a wide variety of roles.

I think he plays a highly functioning guy with a form of autism very well in this film and I don't think that's often easy to do. The portrayal was respectful and I think it fit right in with the story and the context it was being used for.

The rest of the cast is pretty hit or miss.

Listen, I will never complain when Anna Kendrick is in a film. She is a joy to look at and a joy to watch perform. However, I don't really think she was that great for this part. Kendrick is just this bubbly personality and she can't really escape that in her performances. Dana Cummings is this awkward bubbly girl and she's supposed to be the love interest in the film. And honestly, when you're working side by side with someone who's role is to be a loner and not really give her a lot to bounce off of with their performances, it's going to show especially if she needs more to really show off her acting.

Overall, she just seems out of place and that seems to be the case with a couple other people in the movie. Her and John Lithgow just don't seem like they're in the right film and when they're on screen it just doesn't feel right.

But at the very same time, there are performances that work really well with the movie.

If you've read my blog, you'll know that I pretty much think that Jon Bernthal needs to be in more things and he can really do no wrong in my mind with his performances. You may think that he's also a little bit odd in this film but wait till the end and you'll figure out exactly how he fits in and with his natural good performances, he continues to be one of my favorite underrated actors performing today.

He plays off of Ben Affleck pretty well in this film and I think the people who produced this movie recognized that because the scenes with these two are done really well. Everything else is really just kind of meh. Even J.K. Simmons, an actor who is definitely one of the strongest actors of the last few years is just kind of there and while he gives a good performance, I actually kind of forgot he was in the movie.

That's kind of the overall vibe I got from the film, meh and forgetful.

It's not a bad film by any means. But it's also really not a great film. I think they were trying to launch some kind of Ben Affleck Jason Bourne franchise and there's nothing really fascinating about the film that makes me want to see any more of Christian Wolf, the Accountant.

I think they made a halfway decent action film and if you're on an airplane and want to shut off your brain a little bit for an action film, The Accountant is not a bad film to do that on. However, I would strongly recommend you don't spend too much money on this title. It's a fine action film but there's nothing really spectacular about it and I'm guessing it will be forgotten pretty quickly. Serviceable, but forgetful.

But those are my thoughts on The Accountant. What did you think? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @cmhaugen24 as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

I'll leave you with this. In case you forgot about this hidden gem, here's how sad Ben Affleck got when people weren't a fan of Batman v Superman. Enjoy!