Jack and I expected to like this thriller--about a CPA with Aspergers, shady clients, and guns--and were not disappointed. Ben Affleck is wonderful in the title role and Anna Kendrick reminded me ever so slightly of her role in Rocket Science (2007). Her mother is an accountant who tutored Kendrick in the math necessary for this part. Affleck and Kendrick were last blogged in Gone Girl and The Hollars, respectively.
The very big cast includes good work from J.K. Simmons (most recently in The Meddler), John Lithgow (last in The Homesman), Jon Bernthal (last in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl), Jeffrey Tambor (after I covered his career in Win Win in 2011, he won several Emmys for the transgender father in Transparent), and Jean Smart (though known for 120 episodes of Designing Women (1986-91), her Emmy nominations and wins were for Frasier, Samantha Who, and Fargo, among others, and her movie roles have included Sweet Home Alabama (2002), Garden State (2004), Hope Springs, and Youth in Revolt) (she turned 65 in September--she looks fantastic!).
Director Gavin O'Connor (last helmed Warrior) works from a screenplay by Bill Dubuque (The Judge), which was on the 2011 Black List, the "most liked" unproduced scripts of the year. There's a twist at the end of the movie which Jack predicted and took me by surprise when we saw it ten days ago.
As a fan of composer Mark Isham (I last wrote about him for Beyond the Lights), I enjoyed his score, which I'm streaming now from this playlist.
The critics, with their reviews full of number puns, are rounding down to 51% with audiences counting higher at 84 on Rotten Tomatoes. You don't have to see it on the big screen but it might make more sense for some of the denser shots.
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