Review: The Accountant


Does The Accountant add up to a 5/5?

Ben Affleck stars as your regular tax preparer by day and a superhuman assassin by night.

The Accountant is your typical action movie. You have your lead character who’s an excellent shot and can fight his way out of any battle. On top of it, he is an absolute genius who can crunch numbers unlike anyone else. But don’t expect your typical macho action hero. Our lead is quiet and socially awkward, and by day he keeps himself busy by doing taxes for his small-town neighbors. When the accountant takes on a new high profile client, though, things end up getting heated and he finds himself in a situation even he finds tough to fight his way out of.

Okay so let me be completely honest. I came into this movie with pretty low expectations after seeing the trailer. Yet about a quarter of the way through the film, things started trending upward. The movie wasn’t wow-ing me, but it was a decently good action movie. It had humor and it had intrigue. While it wasn’t groundbreaking, I thought the added variety of the Monk-style protagonist kept things fresh enough for our generic action flick. As the movie progressed, I also really enjoyed how it seemed like there was a bigger plot going on over the heads of all of our characters. The anticipation of finally figuring out what was happening kept me invested in the story. Everything had purpose and I was beginning to expect a movie in quality somewhere between Red and Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I actually could not believe how much this movie was exceeding my expectations.

And… then they dropped all of it. About halfway through the movie everything changed for the worse. I was honestly offended at how low my expectations were and how much they raised them only to just drop them even lower by the end of the movie. I really wanted to like this movie. But everything they set up in the first half of the movie just… didn’t pan out. They completely dropped one of the characters halfway through – only to give us a little bit of a resolution for them at the end. And there was no real climax. It’s an action movie. I wanted action. And there was very little impactful action. Nothing went anywhere and we never got a big showoff or “oh crap” moment. There were no stakes, nothing really seemed to matter. And all the plotlines they built up in the first half just led nowhere. By the end of the movie, it just felt like nothing really mattered. The whole plotline of the second half just seemed messy and pointless.

I can’t really say who the target audience is for this movie. If you want action, you’re not really going to find much. If you want some deep plotline, you’re also not going to get it. It isn’t a horrible movie, but it just left me disappointed with what it could have been. If I had left the movie halfway and let my imagination fill in the rest of the movie, I think I would’ve awarded this movie around a 3/5… maybe even higher. But that was not the solution to this math equation.

1.5 out of 5

What would I have changed? (Spoilers)
Click here to read what I would Change

Johnny Johnny (Senior Contributor) was born and raised in San Diego. He's been a fan of films the majority of his life. He enjoys the feeling it invokes and the power it has to take you to another place.
Click Here to check out Johnny's other Articles.

Comments

Donna Hylkema said…
I have not seen the movie yet...but would love to...sounds like a superman story
Michelle said…
I absolutely LOVED the accountant! I think it's one of ben affleck best movies and will definitely pay to see it again in theatres ! So many twists and it kept you on your toes 5 stars
cpace said…
This IS Afflecks Best movie to me!
Loved the fight scenes, the added twist'
were added excitement! The writer went
above and beyond the scope of this movie
with added suspense and round the corner surprise ! And...There Coudersport be....and #Accountant II ! 😊
sdlook9 said…
I pretty much agree with your 1.5, the most I would give this movie is a 2. For me it was a copycat of the Jason Bourne movies. Seems like Ben and Matt got together before this film, and Ben said, I can to what you did in the Bourne movies, so he went for it. Lots of oohs and wows but that was about it.
jimorris said…
“The Accountant” is a (very late) brainless summer popcorn flick with lots of action, death, plus some lessons about autism. It covers the life of an individual from
childhood to the present day. Not a great film, but definitely worth seeing.
Konnie Semonski said…
I liked this movie but was disappointed. I expected more and felt like a bridesmaid on that end. Worth seeing if you have the time and no other movies to see.
aj ryan said…
I love this movie. I would see it again and again. The plot and everything was just amazing. Ben Afflack Is Fantastic and The hottest i ever seen him
pnut78 said…
Hmm, I think this is one of those that I have to see for myself to see if I'll like it. I really think I'll enjoy it very much.
Deb Bialik Schmidt said…
Hubs and I both enjoyed it! Lost of twists to the plot...worth the watch!
sandy weinstein said…
i would really like to see this, supposed to be a great movie. i like the actors in it.
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