If you know me, you know I’m a huge supporter of Ben Affleck. Is it because he’s Batman right now? Maybe. Is it because he’s from Boston and by definition a Sox fan? Definitely. Regardless I’ve been with him through thick and thin. Through the highs of Good Will Hunting (1997) and the lows of Daredevil (2003). In true Affleck-supporting-fashion I knew I had to make my way to Bellmore’s Playhouse in order to make my Good Bad Taste debut. I also wanted to take this opportunity to see Affleck and J.K. Simmons test the waters before they share the screen with each other next year as the Batman and Jim Gordon… Only to discover they’re in maybe one scene together this movie.
In The Accountant (2016), Ben Affleck symbolically tells Matt Damon to step aside and let him be the numbers genius this time as he plays an (you guessed it) accountant with a case of high functioning Autism resulting in an intellect and knack for numbers and problem solving that could make anyone’s head spin. Of course this caused Affleck’s character, Christian Wolff to suffer from severe social issues including angry outbursts and acts of violence and socially awkward scenarios with Anna-Kendrick-type-characters played by Anna Kendrick. Oh, and his military father trained him how to fight because he believed the world would never give someone with Affleck’s disadvantages a chance. The result is an accountant who does business cooking books with some of the most dangerous and lethal people in the world and said accountant is a living weapon himself when anyone crosses him.
As far as action films go, this movie hits all the right notes: A protagonist you can root for due to Affleck’s stellar performance and commitment to detail in every movement his character makes. Every movement and action Affleck had was precise and he could stop on a dime at any moment. Everything about Ben Affleck’s character is clean, precise, and to a tee. The camerawork supports this claim even more – being almost too perfectly placed to frame the scene as if Affleck’s character himself put the camera in position to make sure it was all evenly spaced.
Coming in at a solid two hours in length, The Accountant never feels like it drags. There are plenty of other characters like J.K. Simmons and Jon Bernthal who add different personalities to the movie. It also adds a little too many subplots than the movie needed. Not to say that when Affleck isn’t on screen I wasn’t interested; There is just a lot going on in this movie at some points and I felt that some points could have been more important than others and some stuff could have been taken out. I love both Simmons and Bernthal in this movie and I think Bernthal is one of the most underrated working actors right now. He’s what made The Walking Dead good when it was good and he was the most stand out character of the most recent season of Netflix’s Daredevil series.
After an overall lackluster summer movie season, The Accountant was a breath of fresh air for me. Ben Affleck once again proves to the Affleck Haters that he can act as well as he can direct, and while J.K. Simmons probably definitely won’t be receiving an Oscar nomination for this performance, the movie does its purpose – which is to entertain and give me an escape from my real problems for two hours.
Good Bad Taste 
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