2016's "The Accountant" escaped me when it was theatrically released, and though I ended up watching it last year on streaming, I had the same reaction as when watching its sequel, politely called "The Accountant 2:" it's an efficiently made little action thriller staring Ben Affleck that left me feeling a bit icky its characterization. He plays an autistic accountant who is as skilled at evading authorities as he is breaking necks, and while the idea of Affleck, who is not autistic, portray someone with autism is not itself necessarily problematic, it actually kinda is, especially in a movie like this.
It's a topic for serious cinema, and all it says about the disorder here is that it makes you a genius with everything from numbers to fighting but really, really bad at talking to people. I might not be autistic myself, but I know a stereotype when I see one.
This time, returning screenwriter Bill Dubuque fills the film with even more unsavory ideas, showing illegal immigrants as either taking US-citizen jobs or becoming prostitutes, else bad people will hold their children for ransom. What happens when the family doesn't pay? The answer is always death, a sick and twisted exploitation of real-world issues for the sake of portraying an autistic assassin accountant as a light and breezy action hero. I do appreciate also returning Gavin O'Connor's direction, who focuses away from actually showing much violence with the misogyny or child harm, but that's still what's driving this from the opening to ending credits.
I suppose I should get to the plot, which is labyrinthine for the sake of giving its "savant" savior a reason for even being involved: Ray King (J.K. Simmons in a brief cameo) meets with the mysterious Anaïs (Daniella Pineda), only to be killed on the streets following a bathroom brawl, the words "find the accountant" written on his arm. In case you've never read "The Laws of Action Movies," it states that having a fight take place in a lavatory can't be all that bad. But I digress.
What does the cryptic scribbling mean? Marybeth (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) knows, having worked with Ray in the first film trying to locate the enigmatic actuary. His name is Chris Wolff, of course played Affleck, returning with many of the same tics as before, from blowing on his fingers before eating to having just one fork, spoon, etc., He also plays briefly with a Lightsaber, because he's a nerd, because, you know, stereotypes.
Marybeth locates and persuades Wolff to help her find out who killed King, why, and maybe even figure out who the people in a random photo puzzlingly found in-between the cushions of the seat he sat at moments before his demise. And Wolff turns to his estranged younger brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) for help. Braxton is not autistic, and their bond is strained due their upbringing, their jobs, his stubbornness and Wolff's condition. The two are almost always bickering, drinking, arguing, teasing or killing, sometimes several at the same time, and their reunion is almost a sweet one. Except this isn't a study or investigation of the significance of its situation, simply window-dressing for slick, commercial entertainment.
You may have noticed that Dana, played wonderfully by the always-wonderful Anna Kendrick, is not around this time. Their platonic flirtation was so genuine and enjoyable in part 1, so it's a shame that they priortized the wrong relationship for the sequel.
The actual action is quite exciting, filmed so you can usually tell who's punching or firing at who, that is until you discover its rhythm. That is to say Wolff lives like a superhero in a non-superhero world, able to do pretty much anything with his fists or gun without so much as a scratch. It demands a scale of suspension of disbelief that might have worked had his character not been a cliche; I halfway anticipated him to quip "I'm Batman," but alas, that opportunity goes unfulfilled. Maybe in the threequel.
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