[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s movie and TV reviews – Sequels a Go-Go – The Accountant 2 and Another Simple Favor (plus, a plug for CINEMA BIZARRO).
The Accountant 2
When it comes to sequels, sometimes you wish the cinematic journey would have ended with the first outing, but there are times when the second one is an improvement on the original—and may in fact leave you wanting a little more. Such is the case with The Accountant 2, in which Ben Affleck reprises his role as the autistic accountant (who is probably a lot more lethal than your run-of-the-mill accountant) and would/be righter of wrongs. There is no Anna Kendrick (and limited J.K. Simmons) this time around. Instead, Cynthia Addai-Robinson plays Simmons’ successor at FinCEN, who persuades Affleck’s Christian Wolf to help her locate a Salvadorean family that has disappeared. This investigation leads them both to discover a network of unsavory characters trafficking women and using children as hostages, which leads to the requisite amount of bloodletting and violent catharsis.
Action sequences aside (and they are fairly well-staged), what makes the movie work is the welcome injections of character and humor that are prominent throughout. An early scene in which Affleck’s Wolf is testing a speed-dating service by affecting the algorithm is both amusing and character-revealing (or confirming). But the film really kicks into high gear with the appearance of Jon Bernthal as Affleck’s assassin brother, Braxton. The movie takes advantage of the chemistry shown fleetingly in the first film by elevating Bernthal’s Braxton to co-star level. The two have a definite chemistry, a combustible mix of affection and resentment that helps to bring both characters into sharper focus. The sequence where they are sharing their feelings (in a manly way), leading to a night “on the town” where Bernthal is coaching Affleck about women is both touching and downright funny—with more depth than you get in films of this type. And while the film has some tonal shifts, Bill Dubuque’s script is well served by director Gavin O’Connor and his lead players.
Another Simple Favor
As for Another Simple Favor, which reunites Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively as moms with a history (see A Simple Favor), while it passed the time harmlessly enough, I can’t say I believed a single minute of it. This time Anna Kendrick’s Stephanie has been invited to Italy by friend/nemesis Blake Lively’s Emily. And for me, the moment she said yes is where the film lost all credibility. (Now you’re thinking, Mike, if she doesn’t say yes, there is no movie.) However, I went with it, and while numerous events and characters materialize, little of it makes sense, and all of it depends on a “big reveal” that…isn’t as big as it thinks it is. That being said, I did enjoy the scenes where Kendrick and Lively play off each other, uninterrupted by others, but really, director Paul Feig should have left it at the first favor.
CINEMA BIZARRO
Speaking of sequels (cue shameless plug), as you may know, I contributed some chapters last year to a book called GIANT BEASTS CINEMA for Bear Manor Books (which in itself was a sequel to GIANT BUG CINEMA). Now, a third entry has just been published, CINEMA BIZARRO, which is a guide to some offbeat monstrous menaces. I’m particularly proud of my chapter on From Hell it Came, in which an executed native (wrongly accused of murder) is reincarnated as a vengeful killer tree stump—who is fairly successful in its killing spree despite being a lumbering tree stump. It’s available on Amazon, from Bear Manor Books, and will supply all manner of satisfaction to the monster kid in us all. https://www.amazon.com/Cinema-Bizarro-Particularly-Horror-Sci-Fi/dp/B0DXPMZ8Z4
