The Accountant (2016) Review

I am going to see The Accountant 2 tomorrow but it has been a long time since I have seen the first film so I decided to re-watch it and here is my review for The Accountant. The premise of the film sees a unique accountant hired by a company to go through their books which leads to some violent consequences. 

Main Character

Ben Affleck plays The Accountant and I thought he was great in the film. His character has plenty of quirks about him and he seems to encapsulate the role really well. He is fantastic in the action scenes and though I didn't feel loads of sympathy for him I enjoyed watching his journey and performance in the film. 

Supporting Characters 

Anna Kendrick plays Dana and I really liked her performance. She is pretty high energy and the chemistry between her and Affleck is great and they really bounce off of each other well which aids both of their characters. 

JK Simmons plays Ray King and he was fantastic in this film. He really cares about his performance and he really rises this quite generic character and makes him one of the best parts of the film and that is due to the quality of the acting. 

Cynthia Addai-Robinson plays Medina and she is good in the film. I don't really care about her part in the plot but I think Robinson adds to the scenes that she is in and does a decent enough job. 

Jon Bernthal, Jeffery Tambor & John Lithgow are all in this film in smaller roles but they are all entertaining to watch. Especially Bernthal who has been doing some great work over the years. 

Story

The story of The Accountant is fascinating, as we see and find out more about him he becomes way more interesting and I really enjoyed this aspect of the film. I also really liked the dynamic between Affleck & Kendrick and I think it was a great part of the film. However, this films complete plot of the bad guys is super generic and was clearly the afterthought. Also, the investigation by Simmons & Robinson really goes nowhere and I do think if that part of the film was cut then it would be no different. 

Script

The script actually has some pretty good dialogue, even some little chuckle worthy moments that I wasn't expecting. But this film really suffers with an exposition problem and the way that it is presented is really weak and affects how the film flows. 

Style

The film has some great action to it. It rivals top action films like John Wick and seeing Affleck take down bad guys is really satisfying. However. the film has some real pacing issues and makes it feeling longer then it is. 

Overall

Overall, The Accountant is a good film that has some great performances and action scenes. It does have some issues but is a fun watch and I hope the sequel is at least as good if not better. 

Rating - 7/10