Film Review — The Accountant 2
Banter between Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal makes up for tonal shifts and a convoluted plot in Gavin O’Connor’s action thriller sequel
I can’t remember a damn thing about The Accountant (2016) other than it starred Ben Affleck as autistic accountant Christian Wolff (I had to look up the character), who consults for the Treasury (I had to look up the agency) investigating money laundering. I know I’ve seen it, and I remember vaguely enjoying it, but beyond that, as Gandalf once said, “I have no memory of this place”. An ongoing problem these days. Perhaps I’ve used up all the film storage space in my brain. Or maybe I’m just getting older. Either way, The Accountant 2 is a film I expected to vaguely enjoy in the same way as the original and vaguely enjoy it I did.
That’s perhaps a little unfair. Whilst watching, my enjoyment was more than vague. Christian (Affleck) returns, this time bringing his estranged hitman brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal). Their banter is what significantly elevates this film. Two scenes — one involving a criminal in the boot of a car, the other a brawl in a country and western bar — had me guffawing and were almost worth the price of admission alone. Outside such predictable but entertaining sibling bonding, the plot is an overheated stew of viciously unpleasant criminals who meet viciously unpleasant (and thoroughly deserved) ends. It is set in motion by Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), who brings in Christian to try and connect the dots between corpses and organised crime fraudsters.
A few hacking moments involving Christian’s nonverbal handler Justine (Allison Robertson), and her savant crew are entertaining. The horrific treatment of migrants is highlighted, as is the plight of the trafficked women. Mysterious assassin Anaïs (Daniella Pineda) flits in and out of the picture, with a brief appearance by JK Simmons another plus point, though I wish they’d kept him around for longer. However, the appeal isn’t the thriller shenanigans but the film’s entertaining celebration of all things neurodivergent. Another memorable scene near the beginning, involving Christian attempting speed dating, provides another big laugh, but crucially, the joke is never on the neurodivergent characters but on those with whom they interact.
Whilst hardly groundbreaking stuff, The Accountant 2 is skilfully assembled by director Gavin O’Connor, who handles the guns and wisecracks well. On the other hand, Bill Dubuque’s convoluted screenplay means the dramatic shifts to po-faced seriousness get a bit jarring at times. Our morally dubious “heroes” are “good” only because in comparison to the repugnant pond scum they encounter, they’re positively angels. Yes, one of them is a hitman. But he’s a hitman who likes cats and rescues children, so that’s all right.
Also, Anna Kendrick was in the original. She’s not in this one. I like Anna Kendrick, so I’ve decided that’s a shame on principle, even though I don’t recall what she did in the first film. But this one still works pretty well. In fact, if I can remember it in ten years, that might even be a case for considering it better than the original.
(Originally published at Medium.)
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