Jeri Jacquin
This week is going to be a thrill because director Gavin O’Connor and Warner Bros. is dishing out the suspense with THE ACCOUNTANT.
Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) has a way with number, not just any way but a wizards’ way. In a little shopping mall is ZZZ Accounting where he helps his clients in ways that leave them surprised.
But Wolff also does other jobs, special jobs, as when he meets Rita Blackburn (Jean Smart). She wants the numbers wiz to look into the finances of a robotics company owned by Lamar Black (John Lithgow). It seems that one of their own, Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) has found inconsistencies in the flow of company money.
Across the country Ray King (J.K. Simmons) a Treasure Agent looking for a man who works with dangerous and very rich individuals called ‘the accountant’. He has reasons of his own to find him and to do that he enlists the help of Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robbinson), a young woman who has a few secrets of her own but dives in to search for the mysterious man.
Back in a conference room, Wolff has taken over completely going over tons of material provided by Dana who wants to be of more help. But that isn’t Wolff’s style and he puts her off straight away. That is until he discovers what is happening with Lamar Black’s money!
That’s when his staff starts to turn up dead at the hands of a man named Brax (Jon Bernthal). Fearful of any more reprisals for what Wolff may find, Black hands him a checks and wants nothing more to do with what is happening.
Wolff is stunned by his attitude and even more freaked out that he can not complete the job. Hardly the worst of it when he discovers that Dana’s life is now in danger and nothing is going to stop him from tracking down those who are responsible.
There is much more to this accountant than his pocket protector!
Affleck as Wolff is absolutely brilliant! First of all, his is a person of great mental strength put there by a not-to-normal childhood. A man of routine, taking on this case is anything but which brings all his senses to a heightened mode. Affleck has this amazing ability to have a calm and coolness to his features when everyone else is loosing their frakken minds. I know there were a few times I had my jaw dropped at the mixture of an almost innocence to his character and then in a millisecond he is in badass mode.
Simmons as King gives another piece of stellar acting. Personally I can not get enough of this guy and it is because he has the remarkable ability to portray any character he is given. From joking-loving father to a music teacher with unorthodox methods of screwing up a student’s brain to this role as King, I’m on this guys cheer squad for life!
Bernthal as Brax gets to go into crazy mode but with almost the same calmness as Wolff. He walks his way through this film doing his job and seeing it as just that – a job. Bernthal has come a long way fast since his zombie days and I couldn’t be happier for him.
Kendrick as Dana is a young woman who just wants to do her job and move along in life. Not expecting someone like Wolff to shake things up, there is a part of her that is intrigued by him. I absolutely love the ending of her part of the story. Addai-Robinson as Medina was the character that kind of irked me the most. Coming off as a woman with a past is one thing and by the end I’m thinking this character has a false face.
Lithgow as Black has a short role in the film but learns the hard way not to mess with a man who knows his numbers. Smart as Blackburn also has a shortened role but it is always good to see her.
Other cast include: Andy Umberger as Ed Chilton and Alison Wright as Justine.
TUBS OF POPCORN: I give THE ACCOUNTANT four and a half tubs of popcorn out of five. Now, let me explain why. This is the first film I’ve watched in a while where I was absolutely surprised by every aspect of the film. It was funny in a twisted way that I can appreciate, it was suspenseful at every turn, the film makes no apologies just as the character Wolff doesn’t, it is in-your-face from start to finish and the reaction of some of the characters is priceless.
The odd connection between Affleck and Kendrick is almost like a secret between the two of them. They understand the awkwardness of their own lives yet they have this mathematical connection that brings them both serious happiness. Having never been a math person I don’t relate but yet do. Like I said, it’s a secret between these two characters that works!
Now, that is a teaser of course but mainly because there are many, many things I’m not telling you and for good reason. This film is best experienced for yourself! It is filled with so much that I want in a film. Coming in at 128 minutes I swear there isn’t a moment where the story drags, not ONE!
Warner Bros. should be thrilled and peacock-puffed-up-proud of THE ACCOUNTANT. The casting is fantastic and keeping the surroundings simple lets the characters really shine in a story that is complex and even had me guessing to the very end. Look, it is films like this that I go to the theatre for – I want the clock to tick away without me ever thinking of looking at it.
Now, what I thought immediately at the end of the film….I want Christian Wolff and John Wick to get together! I mean seriously – these two would take fear for the bad guys to another level!
In the end – calculate your choices!
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