MOVIE REVIEW – Ben Affleck changed his Batman cape and mask for an accountant suit. The wearer of this suit: Christian Wolff has a severe bout of autism, and he is also severely sociopath, but that doesn’t make him less of a genius in the field of expert mathematics and financial knowledge, and he’s also extremely skillful at killing people.

 

If you can’t be yourself, be the Batman. If you can’t be Batman (for the duration of one movie at least), be the Accountant. That could be the motto for Ben Affleck, whose latest movie character shows strong similarities with his former and future role: the Batman. Does this make the movie a cheap cash-in thriller? Or does this actually work? Well, I was more than pleasantly surprised…

Neo-noir with an autistic hero

While this movie isn’t related at all to Christopher Nolan, if felt a bit the same as Time Out New York’s Joshua Rothkopf: “The Dark Knight director has had a mortifying effect on movies. In this case, it’s almost as if Affleck’s somber plunge into the calamitous, Nolan-produced “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has followed him into other projects, like a heavy cologne. Avoid this one like the stink it is.”

Except, that contrary to him, I think that Nolan neo-noir style has an EXCELLENT effect on a strange thriller like that. The Accountant has similar vibes as Nolan’s fantastic Memento and while it’s far from being such an artistic masterpiece as Memento was it still has some excellent ideas well mixed up.

First, making an autistic, sociopath accountant also a first class killer was a very good idea. Professional hitmen and killers kind of main characters were always sociopaths with other psychological issues included. (Perhaps, the first of this sort was the French movie The Samurai with Alain Delon.)

Second Affleck is nothing short of excellent at playing this kind of conflicted, lone character with serious issues but also a perfect killer with a dry sense of humor. He already showed that in his portrayal of Batman – in fact, he’s playing a better Batman here, than in Batman V. Superman.

Balance

Like it’s main character, the movie is keeping its balance well between Wolff’s story of a Rainman-like autistic accountant and a bona fida thriller with excellent action sequences – without going the Jason Bourne way. Yes, there are moments, where a movie is losing a bit its edge with some scenes which should have been perhaps edited out, the main bad guy (with a “surprising” twist) could have been better fleshed out, still, The Accountant is a surprisingly well constructed movie until its very end.

Fresh and delightfully offbeat, “The Accountant” proves that a thriller can be complex and nuanced while fulfilling its mission to entertain. Working from a screenplay by Bill Dubuque (“The Judge”), director Gavin O’Connor (“Warrior”) delivers a film that deserves to be a huge hit — with plenty of thrills, but also an engagingly wry sense of humor.

Affleck is magnetic as a guy who’s found a way to make the world work for him, but who feels the need for something more. It’s one of his best performances. And Kendrick (“Up in the Air”), Addai-Robinson (“Arrow”) and Simmons (“Whiplash”) hit just the right notes.

While The Accountant is neither on pair with Rainman, Memento or The Samurai, it’s well-done mixte between them, if you go to see this movie, it’s time well spent.

-BadSector-