The Accountant

UK Release Date. 4 November 2016
Certification. 15
Running Time. 2 hours 8 mins
Director. Gavin O'Connor
Cast. Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Anna Kendrick, John Lithgow, J.K. Simmons, Jeffrey Tambor.
Rating. 56%

Review.

The Accountant is an intriguing concept. Director, Gavin O'Connor initially offers a bold attempt to make an antisocial, autistic maths genius into a mainstream action hero. Sadly, as the film progresses this central idea is abandoned and the result is a fairly conventional, generic action movie.

 

The ever-watchable Ben Affleck gives a captivating performance as Christian Wolff. His low-key demeanour works to the role's advantage as he spends most of the film trying to make his 6 ft 4 in frame much smaller than it is. Every gesture, glance or utterance has a purpose, no movement is wasted and this minimalism is all the more effective coming from such an imposing figure. 

For me, the real surprise was Anna Kendrick [having not seen much of her work before The Accountant]. She's endearing as perky accountant, Dana Cummings and brings a much-needed dose of humanity to proceedings.

Where the film falls down is that it is over-burdened with multiple storylines and flashbacks. These additions don't necessarily make The Accountant a bad film, but certainly, make The Accountant more bloated. When the story is focused solely on Christian Wolff is when The Accountant is at its best.

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