I will admit that, sometimes (all the time), I watch trailers more than once and The Accountant was no exception. We frequently get lost on You Tube, during a trailer watching sesh in our house.
I fell in love with the dreamy Radiohead song, a clean cut and handsome Ben Affleck and what looked like a dark and sophisticated drama. I was wrong.
When it came time to actually watch it, what we got was a film that really had no clue what the hell it was.
Jumbled tone is one of my pet hates - you are one thing or another, don't be ten things at once, its jarring and not in the good way.
Its universally accepted that you can have a bit of light comic relief in most genres and it will work, or a love story running through the centre, but this was like watching 3 or 4 separate films.
It had potential to be an intelligent enthralling drama, but the weird rom-com scenes spliced together with John Wick-esque ninja violence and badly placed jokes, just made it odd.
I'm not saying I didn't love it - I did, but then I will watch any old shit; I count Bio Dome and Idle Hands among my favourite films of all time. So really, what do I know?
Directed by my beloved Gavin O'Connor (Warrior) The Accountant is billed as an action thriller, which is basically what we got and I will say there are far more redeeming features than there are faults.
Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolff, a forensic accountant working incognito for various criminal organisations. The story of how he came to be the financial wizz/ninja/soft spoken sweetheart/master sniper that we see, is told in flashback, starting from childhood.
The film centres around the main characters Autism, which is a subject very close to my heart, so that is the bright shining reason why, despite everything I've just written, I actually love this film. There are only a handful of films dealing with Autism and even fewer where it is the main focus. This is ludicrous to me as its a fact of life for millions of people.
There are many plot twists and turns, which were cleverly thought out and masterfully executed. The writing was on point and the action sequences were beautifully choreographed.
Performances were a good solid effort from all, although for Ben Affleck I think this kind of understated, brooding character, just comes naturally to him now.
A stand out for me was Jon Bernthal.
Ever since he came into my life out of nowhere in 2010 (The Walking Dead) I seem to see him everywhere now. He's another case of 'always the bridesmaid never the bride', like GIovanni Ribisi, but he should be the bride, he should be starring in films, because the natural talent he has is astounding.
I'm waffling now so i'll sum up my thoughts.
As separate entities, the different genres in this film are perfectly crafted, there are some tender moments that truly melt your heart, some amazing action sequences that get you all riled up, some clever dramatic sequences that belong in a neo-noir indie festival type film, some gory violence and explorations of various relationships that feel like therapy sessions.
All in all, I enjoyed this film and will definitely watch it again and almost certainly buy it on DVD - it's just not quite perfect.
I fell in love with the dreamy Radiohead song, a clean cut and handsome Ben Affleck and what looked like a dark and sophisticated drama. I was wrong.
When it came time to actually watch it, what we got was a film that really had no clue what the hell it was.
Jumbled tone is one of my pet hates - you are one thing or another, don't be ten things at once, its jarring and not in the good way.
Its universally accepted that you can have a bit of light comic relief in most genres and it will work, or a love story running through the centre, but this was like watching 3 or 4 separate films.
It had potential to be an intelligent enthralling drama, but the weird rom-com scenes spliced together with John Wick-esque ninja violence and badly placed jokes, just made it odd.
I'm not saying I didn't love it - I did, but then I will watch any old shit; I count Bio Dome and Idle Hands among my favourite films of all time. So really, what do I know?
Directed by my beloved Gavin O'Connor (Warrior) The Accountant is billed as an action thriller, which is basically what we got and I will say there are far more redeeming features than there are faults.
Ben Affleck plays Christian Wolff, a forensic accountant working incognito for various criminal organisations. The story of how he came to be the financial wizz/ninja/soft spoken sweetheart/master sniper that we see, is told in flashback, starting from childhood.
The film centres around the main characters Autism, which is a subject very close to my heart, so that is the bright shining reason why, despite everything I've just written, I actually love this film. There are only a handful of films dealing with Autism and even fewer where it is the main focus. This is ludicrous to me as its a fact of life for millions of people.
There are many plot twists and turns, which were cleverly thought out and masterfully executed. The writing was on point and the action sequences were beautifully choreographed.
Performances were a good solid effort from all, although for Ben Affleck I think this kind of understated, brooding character, just comes naturally to him now.
A stand out for me was Jon Bernthal.
Ever since he came into my life out of nowhere in 2010 (The Walking Dead) I seem to see him everywhere now. He's another case of 'always the bridesmaid never the bride', like GIovanni Ribisi, but he should be the bride, he should be starring in films, because the natural talent he has is astounding.
I'm waffling now so i'll sum up my thoughts.
As separate entities, the different genres in this film are perfectly crafted, there are some tender moments that truly melt your heart, some amazing action sequences that get you all riled up, some clever dramatic sequences that belong in a neo-noir indie festival type film, some gory violence and explorations of various relationships that feel like therapy sessions.
All in all, I enjoyed this film and will definitely watch it again and almost certainly buy it on DVD - it's just not quite perfect.