The Accountant

2016 Warner Brothers Pictures

Rated: R

Length: 2 hr 8min

Action ~ Crime ~ Drama ~ Thriller

Starring: Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J. K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Jeffrey Tambor, and John Lithgow.

CALCULATE YOUR CHOICES

Ben Affleck stars as Christian Wolff, an Autistic Accountant with hidden talents. He operates a small accounting office in Plainfield, Illinois, that serves as a front for his money laundering enterprise. He assists a farmer and his wife with their tax problems, and is seen living a regimented life in a suburban property. His criminal clients contact him via an unnamed woman, who also organizes his business, identities and life. Christian is hired to audit the firm Living Robotics after the company’s CEO, Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow), and his sister Rita learn of accounting irregularities. They assign in-house accountant Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick), who discovered the issue, to assist Christian.

Meanwhile, Treasury Director Ray King (J. K. Simmons) meets with data analyst Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson), who has a criminal record as a juvenile but failed to disclose this on her federal employment application. He warns her she faces prison if he chooses to reveal the information and assigns her the task of finding a shadowy figure known as ‘The Accountant’ before King retires in a few months. Medina realizes that Christian is using a series of aliases, chiefly names of great mathematicians. She tracks the Wolff identity to the accounting office and adjacent businesses in Plainfield, realizing he is using them to launder money, most of which is then donated to Harbor Neuroscience.

Which is the key to uncovering who The Accountant is, his ties to The Harbor Neuroscience center. The race is on as Christian gets to the bottom of the cooked books and the missing money, The Treasury Department tracks down who, what and where he is, and the bad guys led by Christian’s estranged brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) try to put a lid on the cooked books and the missing money. Along the way we find there is more to the Autistic Christian as he has special skills instilled in him by his Military father as a way to prepare his autistic child for a cold harsh and cruel world.

This is one of my favorites, I have seen it countless times. I went back and re-watched it last night before I watch the sequel The Accountant 2 tonight. Ben Affleck at his best along with Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal and J.K. Simmons. Big fans of all of them, I did want to see more of a relationship between Christian and Anna’s character Dana, felt like that would have been a good road to go down storywise but it wasn’t in the script apparently as she is not in the sequel. So if you haven’t seen it you are missing a good one, give it a go. I hope the sequel measures up, we’ll see tonight.

The Accountant 2 And 3

The Accountant 2 Coming To Amazon Prime Thursday June 5, 2025

Conclave

2024 Focus Features

Rated: PG

Length: 2 hr

Drama ~ Thriller

Directed by: Edward Berger

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Lucian Msamati and Isabella Rossellini.

What happens behind these walls will change everything.

His Holy Father, The Pope has died of a heart attack. The Dean of The College of Cardinals Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is summoned to the Pope’s death bed, and following Church procedure, The Pope’s Ring is removed and the seal of the Pope removed from the ring. The Pope’s body is removed from his room and the room is sealed by Dean Thomas Lawrence. He then starts the proceedings to convene The Conclave, notifying and calling all the Cardinals to Rome to participate in the election of a new Pope. As the Cardinals arrive from all over the world, there is a surprise appearance by a Cardinal from Kabul, Afghanistan that no one knew about.

Cardinal Vincent Benitez was appointed a Cardinal by the Pope In Pectore (In Secret) last year. As The Conclave commences and The Cardinals are sequestered, there are politics, conspiracies and secrets that rise to the surface in the chambers of the Conclave. There are four front-runners in the bid for the new Pope;

Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci) of the United States, A Progressive
Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati) of Nigeria, A Social Conservative
Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow) of Canada, A Mainstream Conservative
Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) of Italy, A Staunch Traditionalist

It gets very political very quickly as the members choose who to support and who has the best chance of being the new Pope. As the voting takes place day by day, secrets and scandals rise up to oust the chances of the front-runners one by one. There are illicit sexual relations, illegitimate children, bribery and Political scandal that rocks the Conclave as the Cardinals attempt to elect a new Pope. It is a very interesting look at The Hierarchy and Politics of the Catholic Church. And the process of The Conclave and electing a New Pope.

It is very dramatic and political, there are intense opposing viewpoints on which direction the Church should head directly related to The New Pope that will lead the way. The Traditionalist wants to return the Church to it’s old ways, the progressive wants to align the church with the modern times, and the conservatives have their own views on which way the church should go. It is very dramatic and pulls you right in wanting to know how it all plays out. As the scandals and mysteries pop up Dean Thomas finds himself playing Detective trying to get to the bottom of them. A Pope must be free of any scandal or any seemingly unholy activity. He must be above human temptation, free of man’s sinful ways, a step down from God himself.

The Movie was great, a great story and religious political thriller with a captivating look inside the workings of the catholic church. But the end……that was unexpected. I did not see that coming and it leaves me with more questions than answers. They could have just ended the movie with the election of the New Pope, but they attached controversy to the New Pope right at the very end. Why you may well ask, I did. Was it the previous Pope’s intention to set all this controversy up to install this new Pope so that his vision and work would be carried forward? Or was it his intention to make a point about The Church’s views on Sexuality?

I don’t have an answer for that, like I said it left me with more questions than answers. It was like a monkey wrench thrown in at the end to make you think and ponder what if or why. I am not a fan of movies that end this way, I like a movie to come to a solid conclusion and not leave you hanging….or at least set itself up for a sequel with the previous events at least concluding that chapter of the story. They could have left out the monkey wrench and it would have been a great movie.

Sharper

2023 A24 Apple TV+

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 56min

Crime ~ Drama ~ Thriller

Directed by: Benjamin Caron

Starring: Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, Briana Middleton, and John Lithgow.

Sharper: One who lives by their wits, gambles, cheats and swindles.

TOM:

The movie opens with the ticking of a watch, and a close up of someone putting together a Rolex watch. Then we see the definition of a Sharper. Then we see the name Tom (Justice Smith) on the screen. Then we see a man named Tom working in a vintage book store named Stories. A woman walks in looking for an old specific book. Tom finds it for her and, liking her, asks her out for dinner after he closes up. Her name is…….

Sandra:

Sandra (Briana Middleton) is a Law student at a local University and needs the book for school. Sandra agrees to go to dinner with Tom. They hit it off and become good friends, eventually dating. Their relationship grows as they experience the city nightlife and build a life together. We flashback to a point in Sandra’s life before Tom and we meet….

Max:

Max (Sebastian Stan) has a mother he can’t stand. She is dating a much older businessman named Richard Hobbes (John Lithgow) and Max doesn’t think much of him either. Max and Richard clash and Richard decides that Max must get out of his life so he can marry Max’s mother……

Madeline:

Madeline (Julianne Moore) loves Richard and wants to marry him but doesn’t know what to do about her troubled son Max. Or something like that. That is a brief synopsis of the movie and how it plays out, or is it?

I can’t say anymore about the movie except you need to pay attention. One thing leads to another, or does it? Nothing is as it seems and everything is what it seems, or is it? It will keep you guessing until the very end. Twisting and turning, from one story to the next, from one character to the next. Right up until the very last scene.

I thought it was brilliant, well done. Lots of great nighttime city shots and sceneries. I loved the bookstore in the beginning, I could definitely spend some time in there. Julianne Moore was fantastic as always and also co-produced the movie. Justice Smith, Briana Middleton, and John Lithgow were all great as well.

I honestly can’t say anything more about it or I would spoil the adventure for you. I think it is a thrilling Crime Drama you need to immerse yourself in……take the journey, give it a go. Tune everything out and watch sharper with both eyes open, and a sharper mind.

Two Thumbs Up!