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THE ACCOUNTANT
Take some Rain Man and put it in a movie bowl with some The Great Santini and add a generous portion of John Wick and you have the basic ingredients for The Accountant, an elaborately mounted 2016 action/adventure that borrows elements from the above referenced films but establishes its own credentials as a solid action thriller.
Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolff, an autistic savant with a gift for numbers who eventually uses said gift to make a profitable living cooking and un-cooking the books for some of the most dangerous people on the planet. The specialized military training he and his brother received from his father have also helped him to become one of the world's most deadly assassins. This story finds Christian's two lives blurring as he is hired to fix the books at a software company called Living Robotics, where he discovers a multi-million dollar discrepancy that has an FBI and Treasury Agent hot on his tail.
Director Gavin O'Connor takes a great deal of care in mounting Bill Dubuque's extremely intricate screenplay that might take a little too much time in setting up Christian's childhood as an autistic savant and how it affected his relationship with his family, but once the story gets going, the viewer is given very little time to breathe or try to figure out what appears to be red herrings and plot holes at every turn; however, I was delighted to learn that by the time the final reel commences, all questions and plot holes that had been nagging at me were tied up in an effective little cinematic bow that left this reviewer a little spent, but satisfied.
I was impressed by the set up of Christian as an autistic savant and how this remained a through line for the character throughout the story. Christian's connection with the childhood poem "Solomon Grundy" reminded me of Raymond Babbit''s constant recitation of "Who's on First?" in Rain Man. I was also impressed during the halfway point when a damsel in distress (Anna Kendrick) is trying to connect with Christian by explaining how she learned to count cards as a teen (another nod to Rain Man), the connection just doesn't happen because Christian's lack of socialization skills don't allow it and he even explains it to her in efficient detail, one of my favorite scenes in the film.
I haven't seen any of Affleck's work as Jack Ryan, so I was pleasantly surprised by what a solid action hero with a twist that he made. Solid support is also provided by JK Simmons, John Lithgow, and Jon Bernthal as key players in this riveting story. Production values are first rate with special bouquets to film and sound editing. Action purists, belly up.
Take some Rain Man and put it in a movie bowl with some The Great Santini and add a generous portion of John Wick and you have the basic ingredients for The Accountant, an elaborately mounted 2016 action/adventure that borrows elements from the above referenced films but establishes its own credentials as a solid action thriller.
Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolff, an autistic savant with a gift for numbers who eventually uses said gift to make a profitable living cooking and un-cooking the books for some of the most dangerous people on the planet. The specialized military training he and his brother received from his father have also helped him to become one of the world's most deadly assassins. This story finds Christian's two lives blurring as he is hired to fix the books at a software company called Living Robotics, where he discovers a multi-million dollar discrepancy that has an FBI and Treasury Agent hot on his tail.
Director Gavin O'Connor takes a great deal of care in mounting Bill Dubuque's extremely intricate screenplay that might take a little too much time in setting up Christian's childhood as an autistic savant and how it affected his relationship with his family, but once the story gets going, the viewer is given very little time to breathe or try to figure out what appears to be red herrings and plot holes at every turn; however, I was delighted to learn that by the time the final reel commences, all questions and plot holes that had been nagging at me were tied up in an effective little cinematic bow that left this reviewer a little spent, but satisfied.
I was impressed by the set up of Christian as an autistic savant and how this remained a through line for the character throughout the story. Christian's connection with the childhood poem "Solomon Grundy" reminded me of Raymond Babbit''s constant recitation of "Who's on First?" in Rain Man. I was also impressed during the halfway point when a damsel in distress (Anna Kendrick) is trying to connect with Christian by explaining how she learned to count cards as a teen (another nod to Rain Man), the connection just doesn't happen because Christian's lack of socialization skills don't allow it and he even explains it to her in efficient detail, one of my favorite scenes in the film.
I haven't seen any of Affleck's work as Jack Ryan, so I was pleasantly surprised by what a solid action hero with a twist that he made. Solid support is also provided by JK Simmons, John Lithgow, and Jon Bernthal as key players in this riveting story. Production values are first rate with special bouquets to film and sound editing. Action purists, belly up.