Humour is a wonderful thing in a movie. Its ability to be the conductive tissue that holds things together is amply demonstrated by The Accountant 2. Director Gavin O’Connor’s second go at the successful franchise is quite entertaining and certainly not because of the depth of the story but rather the interpersonal dynamics of its two lead actors.
Tightly wound (and rather deadly) accountant Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) and his alpha-male brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal) do all the heavy lifting and provide the film with its best moments. They fight like only brothers can and then kick butt like only cinematic bad boys can and it’s a blast to behold.
Their slowly developing relationship provides a few touching moments and their general way with each other is played mostly for laughs. A lot of the gags hit the mark. The story as it is revolves around a missing child. The context of that situation and the details add a bit of interest but its finer points are murky at best.
This lack of a scintillating storyline matters little when there are so many humorous moments to stitch things together. The pace is fast and there is very little downtime. The Accountant 2 sees the filmmakers lean heavily into the comic realm and it’s a successful strategy.
Rob Hudson
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