The Accountant

The Accountant from Gavin O’Connor impressively builds a central protagonist with exciting detailing and even tries to give us a movie that gives a parallel narration about a man’s dual identity. But after accomplishing the character build up, O’Connor and his writer Bill Dubuque couldn’t really put the movie in a captivating zone and thus ending up as a film that’s worthy of a sequel but isn’t completely absorbing.

Christian Wolff has this peculiar type of autism and he is extra smart and precise. The peculiarity that would have made him an odd guy in the society made his army man father give him rigorous training and with many other life experiences influencing him, Wolff became this exceptionally talented Accountant who is also pretty good in all the gangster stuff like fighting and shooting. The film, The Accountant actually deals with one such operation which had a personal connection with Wolff.

Like I said the build up and the background they gave to Chris Wolff really sets the stage for a mysterious supernatural talent. With a parallel track that has two treasury personals investigating the other side of Wolff’s life, you get a sense of excitement. But the problem with The Accountant is that the unfolding happens way too quickly and the movie starts to linger around the personal issues of our character, taking away the charm it created in the beginning. The screenplay couldn’t really make the narrative gripping in that portion of the movie and the conflict that gets created in the end is way too similar to the same stuff we have seen in Gavin O’Conner’s best, Warrior. The brother vs brother scenario, hatred towards one of the parents for avoidance, the frustration of getting left alone etc. again gets a space in Gavin O’Conner movie.

Ben Affleck delivers an impressive portrayal of Christian Wolff. The minimal reactions and the attention to detail he has given to the performance is truly commendable. Even that delicacy when he realizes the connect he shares with Dana looked quite nice on screen. Anna Kendrick as Dana Cummings had the charm to be that vivacious financial consultant who understands the issues of Wolff. J.K Simmons also performs neatly as the vulnerable treasury officer.

In the making, Gavin O’Conner maintains the tone of a spy thriller and the constructions of almost all the characters were done very impressively. You sort of get a connect with the characters in detail and their backdrop stays with you for some reason and that is the reason why I said this movie has got the potential to create a better sequel. If treasury investigation had more spice and the brotherhood issues were addressed in a more emotional atmosphere, the complexity would have increased and it would have given the content a push intellectually. The fights are brutal and the visuals were good.

On the whole, The Accountant is not completely fresh and exciting as a story. But the well etched out characters gives a sort of solid foundation to the movie which could be utilized with the help of better writing.

Rating : 3/5