"The Accountant" tells the tale of Christian Wolff, an autistic accountant (with a special set of skills), who becomes embroiled in a financial conspiracy involving a robotics company. He quickly discovers that he and Dana - the company's junior accountant - are in danger and decides to hunt down those who want them dead.
"The Accountant" is a film that requires more attention than your average action thriller. It should be noted that there are four narratives happening concurrently - the main one with Christian Wolff, another one recalling key events of Wolff's past, another focusing on a couple of Treasury agents trying to identify Wolff, and the final one follows an assassin trying to kill Wolff and Dana. There is a lot of exposition in this film, and it isn't always delivered subtly. Prepare for exposition dumps - there are a few of them and they make the film feel a lot longer than it is. The pacing isn't perfect either, but the film never gets too confusing. Outside of the excessive financial jargon, an average viewer with an engaged thought process should be able to follow what's going on.
Unfortunately, the film slogs quite a bit during the second act, so it may be difficult to keep engaged. However, the film does deliver moments of humour during the most unexpected of times (like at the end of this one action sequence); it was these moments that kept me from leaving early.
Most of the cast is pretty good. Ben Affleck is the obvious standout; his portrayal of an autistic man is not over the top nor clichéd but meticulously restrained and even empathetic. The filmmakers went to great lengths trying to keep every portrayal of autism as accurate as possible. Anna Kendrick, to me, feels miscast. She doesn't do a bad job of playing a fish-out-of-water character, but I feel like her temperament doesn't fit that of her character's. I think a better decision would have been to cast an unknown instead, or an actress who has done horror movies in the past.
J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and John Lithgow round out the rest of the main cast - and are decent with the less- than-decent material handed to them.
I also found the film to be solidly directed. The action sequences are satisfying beyond belief as they not only have so much build-up behind them but are also well-choreographed and visually creative - expect a mixture of gunplay with plenty hand-to-hand combat. The cinematography and editing are well adjusted and perfectly compliment the story.
Overall, I enjoyed "The Accountant" as I am a fan of films with complex plots and characters. I did lose track of what was happening at one point, but I still had a fair idea of who was doing what. Not the best film I've seen this year, but certainly not the worst - and far from being bad.
"The Accountant" is a film that requires more attention than your average action thriller. It should be noted that there are four narratives happening concurrently - the main one with Christian Wolff, another one recalling key events of Wolff's past, another focusing on a couple of Treasury agents trying to identify Wolff, and the final one follows an assassin trying to kill Wolff and Dana. There is a lot of exposition in this film, and it isn't always delivered subtly. Prepare for exposition dumps - there are a few of them and they make the film feel a lot longer than it is. The pacing isn't perfect either, but the film never gets too confusing. Outside of the excessive financial jargon, an average viewer with an engaged thought process should be able to follow what's going on.
Unfortunately, the film slogs quite a bit during the second act, so it may be difficult to keep engaged. However, the film does deliver moments of humour during the most unexpected of times (like at the end of this one action sequence); it was these moments that kept me from leaving early.
Most of the cast is pretty good. Ben Affleck is the obvious standout; his portrayal of an autistic man is not over the top nor clichéd but meticulously restrained and even empathetic. The filmmakers went to great lengths trying to keep every portrayal of autism as accurate as possible. Anna Kendrick, to me, feels miscast. She doesn't do a bad job of playing a fish-out-of-water character, but I feel like her temperament doesn't fit that of her character's. I think a better decision would have been to cast an unknown instead, or an actress who has done horror movies in the past.
J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, and John Lithgow round out the rest of the main cast - and are decent with the less- than-decent material handed to them.
I also found the film to be solidly directed. The action sequences are satisfying beyond belief as they not only have so much build-up behind them but are also well-choreographed and visually creative - expect a mixture of gunplay with plenty hand-to-hand combat. The cinematography and editing are well adjusted and perfectly compliment the story.
Overall, I enjoyed "The Accountant" as I am a fan of films with complex plots and characters. I did lose track of what was happening at one point, but I still had a fair idea of who was doing what. Not the best film I've seen this year, but certainly not the worst - and far from being bad.
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