Analysing Hollywood!

I have never been a great fan of Ben Affleck, but this movie turned the tide in his favour and won my appreciation. Here's my review of the film...

The Accountant

Unlike other movies, this one’s a tad different as the protagonist, Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), suffers from high-functioning autism. Ben Affleck’s portrayal as the man with Autism cannot go unnoticed, if not marveled. Trained in martial arts of every kind, Wolff works for dozens of drug cartel groups and weapons dealers who are neck-deep in big money. Apart from working as a forensic accountant for international criminals, who are into big time money laundering, he doubles up as a deadly assassin.

When ‘Living Robotics’, a reputed bio-technology company, calls on his expertise to unravel huge chunks of missing money, that’s when he bumps into the sweet-talking Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick), who first notices the massive discrepancies. Though the chatty Dana Cummings evokes interest in making friends, his solitary sentences and brusque responses halt progress of a small talk. Ironically, Wolff jumps into action when he senses that Dana Cummings’ life is in danger, making the body count rise significantly.

Meanwhile, in the Treasury Department, the agents are hunting for ‘The Accountant’ who is handling the financial operations of several top-rung gangsters. ‘The Accountant’ has not one, but several clients, and the police are baffled of his survival skill  - since as a thumb rule the gangsters generally dispose of the small fry once a major deal is done. What definitely lends a certain subtlety and intrigue to the story is the stoicism of the protagonist. It’s not your regular crime thriller as it is laced with an emotional drama that depicts a tumultuous personality going through multiple mood swings.

However, there exist a few things that throw the monkey wrench in the works. Things such as where has been his brother all along? How did he surface in the middle? And more importantly, where did he disappear in the end is something the director seems to know but forgot to tell the audience.  Although the movie has quite a few loose hands hanging, it is refreshingly different since it not only deals with a unique subject, but also connects with the audience on a different plateau altogether.

Rating: 3 ½  stars

Cast: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K Simmons, Jon Bernthal

Director: Gavin O’ Connor

Thumbs up: An appealing storyline, a decent portrayal of the character and interesting dark humour

Thumbs down:  Loose ends and lack-luster performance of actors.