6 Minutes of Your Time: The Accountant
- McKayla Walker
- Oct 25, 2016
- 6 min read
A movie review of The Accountant you can read in six minutes or less.
The Accountant , staring Ben Affleck, came out this October, and it was in every single way phenomenal. For some reason, it only has a 50% critic review on Rotten Tomatoes and 51% on Metacritic, although the audience rating is an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A on CinemaScore on an A+ to F scale. Therefore, this weeks 6 Minutes of Your Time is meant to show you what a truly amazing movie The Accountant was and why it deserves more recognition.
1-2 Minute: A Quick Look
Opening night I saw this film and was amazed at the acting and storyline. Multiple times during the film I turned to my boyfriend saying how good it was, and we left the theater assuming it would be one of the top rated films this year. However, we were stunned to look online at the rating the following day to how low it was from critics, and I am still shocked at the disconnect this had with them verses the audience.
The storyline of The Accountant is nothing like the title would lead you to believe, which is symmetrical with the main character Christian Wolff as you are shocked and pleasantly surprised by him as well. Christian has grown up to become an extremely successful accountant because of the dangerous clientele he serves as well as his amazing mathematical skills due to his high functioning autism. The movie flashes between scenes of him and his younger brother growing up under the tutelage of their father- a soldier in the army who trains the boys in martial arts, shooting, and other advanced skills to combat Christians autism- to a grown up Christian struggling with his condition and other matters.
It's these other matters that turn Christian into the hero he is in this film. There has never been a character such as this, and I haven't seen Ben Affleck in a performance like this in a very long time. This was probably one of Ben Affleck’s best performances so far in his career, and was easily better than his performance earlier this year in Batman .v. Superman. His portrayal of Christian must have taken weeks of study to properly portray a person afflicted with autism in order to master the mannerisms and act in a way that would be seen as realistic and not offensive. He causes the audiences to be so emotionally invested into his character through his commitment to the role, and there was such a depth to Christian and each relationship he had in the film.
This film has a one of a kind storyline, giving children with autism a hero who can do anything. With Christians genius due to his condition, he is able to be the perfect assassin, but only kills when someone breaks his moral code. The film leads it up to the viewer to decide if he is more of an anti-hero or if he truly should go to jail for the crimes he committed. This movie also sheds the light on how hard it is for people with autism to have what one would consider a normal life. Since autism can’t be detected physically, many people don’t understand the struggles that those afflicted go through socially as they try and connect with others, as Ben Affleck tries to do with Anna Kendrick’s character. In a beautiful scene where he opens up to her about his condition, she relates to him to parallel that those struggling with autism are not so different and should be treated with kindness, empathy, and camaraderie. The slight love story between the two is enough to bring an entire theater together to cheer the two together, but not even a single kiss is shared between the two characters in this film.
3 Minute: Worth Your Time?
The Accountant gives children and others struggling with autism a hero to look up to, one who can kill a man simply by applying the perfect amount of pressure to their head because of his genius, or an easy headshot to destroy the opposing force in the film. It has some of the best blockbuster potential of any independent film this year, and Ben Affleck's Christian Wolff needs to be on screen again.
It is so worth watching by anyone, as the language was not nearly as crude as many PG-13 films are. It also was not filled with extremely gory violence and, as mentioned before, there isn't even a kiss in this film, so as a viewer you don't need to worry about any graphic love scenes like you do in most rated R films.
4-5 Minute: A Deeper View
The Accountant, cinematically, was extremely well done. It wasn’t filmed in a gray scale of color that is so popular to put into movies these days, such as Man of Steel or any of Zack Snyder’s films which have become so popular. The dialogue wasn’t overpowered by the music, and the action sequences weren’t riddled with overbearingly loud gunfire or death noises that can plague and destroy some films by the unrealisticness of it all. This is the same director who directed the film Warrior (2011), and it was so incredibly well directed and put together that I am surprised he hasn’t created more films! With his direction, he was able to create believable and beautiful relationships, while also designing intense and awesome action sequences, while tying idea together in a brilliantly coherent way resulted in a masterpiece of cinema.
The storyline is symbolized in the first five minutes of the films as young Christian hastily and perfectly puts together a puzzle as his parents talk to an expert of his condition. The puzzle is put together picture side down to show his genius, and the movie mirrors this by having all the information be pertinent and important for the progression of the film, as every puzzle piece is important for the completion of a puzzle. No character is left with a dangling story line, the story continues and flows from one scene and idea to the next, and everything is interconnected in a surprising way that leaves the viewer content, yet hungry for more by the end of the showing. Every question was intelligently answered, while still leaving an ambiguity to the end, which could allow a sequel to this extremely successful (although professional critics wouldn't agree) movie.
As previously mentioned, I was extremely impressed that this R-rated film, films of which are usually riddled with strong language, graphic love scenes, and excessive and extreme violence, was not pervaded with these commonalities. The violence that was in the film was necessary for the progression of the story, but was not overly gory and blood filled just for the sake of pushing boundaries. There was not even a single kiss in the film, which was so refreshing to have a romantic relationship build in a more realistic way. Lastly, the language was better than I have heard in most movies that have a PG-13 rating! Since the F-word was used more than one or two times, I assume that is what gave the film its rating as the violence was no worse than the majority of PG-13 movies that have been released in the last few years. In contrast to many of the other movies in theaters, and most definitely films receiving an R-rating as of late, this was a very clean film that could easily be viewed by people in their teens up to seniors.
6 Minute: Worth Your Time?
Altogether, The Accountant was so terrific I was astonished that it didn’t receive a critic score in the 90’s due to its intricate storyline, committed and spectacular male lead, and fantastic direction and cinematography. Films such as Fight Club initially did not do well in the box office either, but became cult films following their lukewarm releases. The blockbuster potential due to the rich story and characters is much better than that of films like Twilight and the Fast and Furious franchise, both of which have multiple sequels despite their lackluster performances and storylines. The ending was slightly ambiguous, which could lead to a sequel if studios permit. I would love to see more of this new kind of hero and Ben Affleck in this spectacular role again, a role I believe to be one of the best in his career.
It's still in theaters, so run to a theater near you and watch one of the best movies of the year besides Captain America: Civil War and The Magnificent Seven!
Culture Cult Grade: A+
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