Words by JANE CROWTHER
Was anyone asking for a sequel to Ben Affleck’s neurodivergent actioner from 2016 in which a money man with Autism kicks serious ass as a besuited assassin? Possibly not, but here we are nearly a decade later, returning to Christian Wolff (Affleck) as he lays low in a gulfstream trailer with priceless artwork on the wall in Boise, and now there’s not one socially awkward killer gunning his way through a criminal underworld, but two. This time the number in the title not only refers to sequel status but the return of Wolff’s hit man brother, Braxton, in the shape of Corgi-loving, lollipop-sucking bull-in-a-china-shop Jon Bernthal. Double trouble and twice the fun.
Laying out the set-up with a stylishly executed shoot-up in a bingo hall involving J. K. Simmons, The Accountant 2 introduces a mysterious hit woman (Daniella Pineda) who is connected to the trafficking of undocumented immigrant workers into the US. The death of an innocent pulls a treasury department agent, Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) into proceedings and she tracks Wolff down via his nonverbal tech-whiz handler (Allison Robertston) to help her unravel the mystery. Why Chris decides to take the case is as confusing as why Marybeth can move house and spend most days away from her desk job in service to an off-books gig, but the logistics matter little. It’s merely the route to getting Bernthal and Affleck together to bicker, go line-dancing together and cover each other during massive gun/knife fights.
This is where the film comes into its own as both brothers express hurt and bewilderment at their estrangement, unpick their childhood trauma, figure out if they’re cat or dog people and ultimately show up for each other – whether that’s at an LA hoedown or a Mexican bad-guy compound in Juarez. Affleck and Bernthal can do this stuff in their sleep and their needling of each other adds welcome levity to proceedings, while both actors’ flex their action credentials in a dusty finale that nods to spaghetti westerns. Yes, it’s blunt and daft but it’s more fun than taxes…
Words by JANE CROWTHER
Photographs by ELI ADÉ/WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC.
The Accountant 2 is out now
