The Accountant
09/11/16 Filed in: Cinema
Today we saw The Accountant with Ben Affleck playing Christian Wolff, an autistic maths genius who has a sideline in assassinations.
There is a bit of jumping about between his childhood and the present, which is to help to explain why he is as he is. He and his 'normal' brother were brought up in a military family, with a father who pushed aside professional help and instead elected to teach the boys to survive, which included punishing martial arts training. Judging by what comes later, there was a fair amount of special forces training involved as well.
Wolff's small accountancy firm is a cover for his multi-national exploits that involve helping some very unsavoury people. He receives his instructions from a mysterious woman over the phone. She informs him that people "are looking for him", and suggests a more low-key assignment at a company developing advanced prothetic limbs. This assignment in fact turns out to be anything but low-key. Contracted to investigate anomalies discovered by Dana, a young woman from the company's accounts department (played by Anna Kendrick), he does what he's good at and finds a major accountancy discrepancy. This results in an executive of the company meeting an untimely end. Dana is then targeted and the sister of the company's owner doesn't last long either.
There is a bit of jumping about between his childhood and the present, which is to help to explain why he is as he is. He and his 'normal' brother were brought up in a military family, with a father who pushed aside professional help and instead elected to teach the boys to survive, which included punishing martial arts training. Judging by what comes later, there was a fair amount of special forces training involved as well.
Wolff's small accountancy firm is a cover for his multi-national exploits that involve helping some very unsavoury people. He receives his instructions from a mysterious woman over the phone. She informs him that people "are looking for him", and suggests a more low-key assignment at a company developing advanced prothetic limbs. This assignment in fact turns out to be anything but low-key. Contracted to investigate anomalies discovered by Dana, a young woman from the company's accounts department (played by Anna Kendrick), he does what he's good at and finds a major accountancy discrepancy. This results in an executive of the company meeting an untimely end. Dana is then targeted and the sister of the company's owner doesn't last long either.
At this point we see the other side of Wolff, a highly skilled special forces type who can dispatch people by hand, although his preferred method seems to be a bullet to the head.
There is an FBI agent who has a history with Wolff, and who seconds a federal analyst to help identify who Wolff really is, while seemingly already knowing the answer. In fact there are a few interesting plot linkages, the most intriguing of which comes at the end, as Wolff takes on a house full of professional killers who are protecting the real villain. In the interests of not completely spoiling things for you I won't tell you who that is.
So, a lot of action, a nicely intertwined plot, and a brief moment between Wolff and Dana, which was no more than a mere chink in his otherwise seeming inability to form relationships. There could well be a sequel.
There is an FBI agent who has a history with Wolff, and who seconds a federal analyst to help identify who Wolff really is, while seemingly already knowing the answer. In fact there are a few interesting plot linkages, the most intriguing of which comes at the end, as Wolff takes on a house full of professional killers who are protecting the real villain. In the interests of not completely spoiling things for you I won't tell you who that is.
So, a lot of action, a nicely intertwined plot, and a brief moment between Wolff and Dana, which was no more than a mere chink in his otherwise seeming inability to form relationships. There could well be a sequel.