Directed by:
Gavin O'ConnorScreenplay:
Bill DubuqueCinematography:
Seamus McGarveyComposer:
Mark IshamCast:
Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor, John Lithgow, Michael Beasley, Boualem Hassaine, Ron Prather, Jason MacDonald, Ron Yuan (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Christian Wolff (Affleck) is a math savant with more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, he works as a freelance accountant for some of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations. With the Treasury Department's Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King (J.K. Simmons), starting to close in, Christian takes on a legitimate client: a state-of-the-art robotics company where an accounting clerk (Anna Kendrick) has discovered a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. But as Christian uncooks the books and gets closer to the truth, it is the body count that starts to rise. (Warner Bros. UK)
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Reviews (12)
Definitely one of the surprises of the year. This intricate psychological drama about autism, O'Connor is interspersed with John Wick-style brutal, kick-ass action. Affleck is brilliantly cast. The story moves along nicely and there’s always something happening. Even the accounting part is entertaining. No shortage of witty situations involving Ben vs. the Normal World. Bernthal makes a great villain. Imagine Batman vs. Punisher, who wouldn’t watch that?
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The Accountant is a hit emotional thriller with some perfect action and a perhaps unnecessarily overcomplicated story with a lot of details that will make sense in later scenes and bring a big surprise to the story (“Do you like puzzles?”). At least on the first viewing. On the second viewing, which I did because of the difficult decision between four and five stars, my enthusiasm over the super-clever script turned into mere delight over a cleverly constructed genre movie. But the emotions remained.
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A sophisticated B-movie, which pretends to be serious but in fact it’s a movie about a guy who combines Will Hunting/Jason Bourne/John Nash/Frank Castle/Raymond Babbitt/John Wick. Simply put Chuck Norris doesn’t stand a change. So a mathematical autistic outstanding genius accountant is chasing everyone with a gun in his hand and tries to cope with matters of the heart and uncompromising fatherly love among countless headshots. Simply B-movie, roller-coaster ride. The movie is simply a lot of fun. It shouldn't work on paper and it should have been silly and have had potential to win this year's Golden Raspberries Award. But... But contrary to all expectations, it works. And really well (especially in the first half). It's distinctive in a way good-old European crime movie of 1970s used to be. The only weak point is silly effort for the final twist, relying on the identity of one of the characters. At the same time, it was only in the middle of the movie when I realized that the characters/viewers, according to the creators, probably are not supposed know it from the very beginning.
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If you ignore the overcomplicated plot, the laughable attempts at psychological profoundness and the weird twists, it works fine. The statuesque Affleck is a good choice for the character of an autist (regardless of whether his character has anything to do with the real capabilities of an autist). The action is good and executed without hesitation; a 7/10 overall, and I’m rounding up for how they settle the tab with the main villain.
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O'Connor disappointed me. Warrior was the best made cliché in history and completely blew me away, The Accountant is as cold as a woman on her period and downright insulting when it fails to end its so cleverly written story with progressively more significant themes in a way that would be at least somewhat memorable (and instead pulls off the most inappropriate twist for a narrative so serious and smart throughout). No one can deny the film is excellently cast (Affleck is perfect for the role), has balls, and the idea of a bespectacled autistic bureaucrat as a bad ass motherfucker terminator is awfully cool, but the director can only sell all that potential entertainment in a few action moments, otherwise he can't handle the surprising dramatic superficiality, unfortunately. And I was really looking forward to it. 65%
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