This review from The Globe and Mail assesses the sequel to the 2016 action thriller, The Accountant. The sequel shifts tone from the original's dark and serious style, opting instead for a buddy-cop action-comedy feel. Ben Affleck returns, alongside Jon Bernthal, who is given a more significant role as Affleck's brother. The plot involves a murder investigation, but the film's focus lies on the chemistry between the two leads.
The plot itself is considered deeply ludicrous, with a third-act twist described as nonsensical. However, the film finds its strength in the comedic interactions between Affleck and Bernthal as they take on cartel henchmen. Affleck's surprising dancing skills are also highlighted. The absence of key actors from the first film is noted as a weakness.
The review emphasizes the positive dynamic between Affleck and Bernthal, praising their on-screen chemistry. The performance of Cynthia Addai-Robinson, reprising her role from the first film, is deemed underwhelming. The reviewer suggests that the film's success relies heavily on the comedic partnership of the two leads.
Aside from Ben Affleck’s own accountant, does anyone retain fond memories, or memories at all, about the 2016 action thriller The Accountant?
A mid-concept thriller from director Gavin O’Connor (veteran of such tough-guy cinema as Pride and Glory and Warrior), the original Accountant followed the title character – an autistic math-wiz named Christian who has a knack with both calculators and Colts – as he handled the books for all manner of criminal cartels. A fine-enough showcase for Affleck in ultra-dry action-hero mode, the movie drifted in and out of the culture like any other tax season: as unnecessarily complicated as it was unmemorable.
Yet O’Connor – perhaps because he has the IRS on his case and needs the cash, or maybe because studios these days simply don’t like any film without a number in their title denoting audience familiarity – has not been able to let his presumed dream of a CPACU (Chartered Professional Accountant Cinema Universe) die, leading to this nearly decade-later sequel. At least it’s often far more pleasant than an audit.
Abandoning the dark and self-serious tone of the first movie, The Accountant 2 (stylized as The Accountant² during its on-screen credits, but nowhere in its marketing materials; a certain level of math must have been deemed by studio Amazon MGM as simply being too elitist) has been repositioned as a buddy-cop action-comedy. More of a supporting player in the first film, actor Jon Bernthal gets full co-star billing here alongside Affleck, the two playing odd-couple brothers – Christian is the straight-ahead money launderer, Bernthal’s Braxton is the hot-headed mercenary – saddled with solving the murder of an old colleague.
The details of the film’s deeply ludicrous plot don’t matter for a second – there is a third-act twist that makes zero narrative, emotional or existential sense – so long as Christian and Braxton get to enjoy some quality time shooting up anonymous cartel henchmen and line-dancing inside L.A.’s honkiest of honky-tonks. (Affleck’s smooth country-music moves are so impressive that he could certainly deduct any lessons that he might’ve taken – hope he kept the receipts!)
While the sequel is worse off for the absence of original costars Anna Kendrick, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor and Jean Smart – returning player Cynthia Addai-Robinson, once again fumbling around as a junior U.S. Treasury agent, simply does not have the verve to enliven her lazily sketched sidekick – the easy back-and-forth chemistry between Affleck and Bernthal as they paint the town blood-red provides certain dividends. What is it that they say? No pain, no capital gains?
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