ellscashncarry

The Accountant revolves around a mysterious, autistic accountant (Affleck) whose role goes well beyond that of accountancy. As we learn about 'the accountant' (both his past and present), as well as an ongoing treasury investigation into his activities, events start to unravel and several characters find their lives in danger.

First off, I should say that The Accountant does so much right. It's engaging, exciting and thoroughly entertaining. The plot hooks the audience in from the opening scene and keeps you right through to the end. The story is novel, fairly distinctive and a little more intelligent than your bog-standard thriller. This an action thriller made by someone who actually cares about making good cinema.

The acting is very good across the board including another strong performance from Ben Affleck, who's much underrated in my book thanks to some poor film choices in his early days. Since Argo he's very much back in favour with 'those who matter' though and it's great to see him getting the lead in another serious film, without him having to direct.

Some of the techniques used to link characters to their 'younger selves' or to connect their thought processes in multiple scenes were very slick; subtle, but just enough to allow the viewer to make the connection.

Finally, the relationship between Kendrick & Affleck (don't worry, this isn't a spoiler) is just enough without going beyond their own social limitations.

However, there were a couple of areas where the movie let itself down a touch. Firstly the plot became a little convoluted, which at the time I was fine with because it felt like a complex story which may require a second watch to fully appreciate. However, when the ending is revealed it leaves you feeling a little like 'who cares?' or 'so that was all for nothing then?'.

In all honesty, the plot just ended up a little far-fetched and convenient, even for Hollywood and I think the director got a little carried away with the film being 'cool' rather than 'stellar'. For some reason, I went into the film thinking I'd seen somewhere that it was based on a true story. Safe to say by about two thirds of the way through I'd well and truly dismissed that notion. There's just no way something like this could ever play out in real life, which left me a little disappointed as the film didn't need to go as far as it did. There was a perfectly legitimate and just as exciting story in there without the embellishment. A few too many unrealistic action sequences (one in particular) and 'what are the chances?' type moments for my liking. In fact one of the characters actually asks 'the accountant' this question near the end of the film, to which our autistic friend begins to calculate the odds before being shut off as it was 'a rhetorical question'. Safe to say had he been allowed to answer this question he would have identified that the chances were practically impossible of all things playing out in this film how they did.

In summary, if you like thrillers, go see this movie. If you like Ben Affleck, go see this movie. In fact, if you like any half-decent film, go see this movie. If however you're only in pursuit of movie-perfection, then this one doesn't quite cut it.

P.S. How many films is Shane from The Walking Dead managing to get himself in???

A heartwrenching look at the British benefits system which presents a real juxtaposition to the ubiquitous 'Benefits Street', 'Daily Mail 'scroungers' headlines-type culture that we've become so accustomed to.

'I, Daniel Blake' follows the lives of Daniel and Katie who, although from very different backgrounds both appear to be suffering similar fates at the hands of The State.

With believable, real characters, excellent acting and an engaging plot, the film really draws you in, and leaves you feeling grateful for what you have. Yes it clearly has a political message and no it won't be for everyone but it certainly can't be knocked. Better and more important than many of the so called 'blockbusters' we'll see this year.

This rating feels really harsh as this was a genuinely good movie and an excellent homage to the original.However the issues here are two-fold:

1. If you've seen the original there's really no need to see this one. It's effectively a modern remake of the original film with some minor tweaks. As a result, there isn't really much need for its existence other than to make more money for the film studio.

2. Part of what made the original so genre-defining and so ruthlessly scary (at the time) was the fact that nothing had been seen like it before. Tie that in with all the paraphernalia that went with it – mockumentaries, interviews with relatives, the actors in hiding for months, and it meant people were genuinely terrified before they'd even set foot in the cinema. Without all that, and with people being so accustomed to 'hand-held horror films' now, this film doesn't really deliver anywhere near the terror or frights that its namesake did 17 years ago.

Despite the above however, Blair Witch does so much of what 'Project' did well. For a start, the characters make genuinely, believable choices (minus maybe the idea of going into the woods in the first place). When you find yourself thinking you'd definitely leave at that stage - the characters attempt to leave. When you think at that stage you'd set up camp for the night rather than wandering round in the dark – they set up camp for the night… So often in horror films we have to put up with idiotic characters making idiotic, wholly unrealistic decisions and suffering the consequences as a result. At least with the BW series, you can actually empathise with the characters as they act in a similar manner to that, any of us would in the same situation.

Then, somewhat in homage to the original, it brings in elements of new camera-work which add to the tension and genuinely seem to present some alternative ways of filming (GPS cameras connected to the ear, looking through the reverse screen of a video camera, drone cameras etc) and all are integrated into the story seamlessly rather than being thrown in for the sake of it.

Finally, although I personally found myself relatively unmoved by the whole thing, the cinema itself barely moved when the credits rolled. My partner and I watched the entirety of the credits and were still two of the first out. It was as if everyone was waiting for the lights to come on first, which would suggest maybe others were more unnerved. I've never seen anything like it! In summation, if you've seen the original, there's really no need to see 'Blair Witch'. It's not that you'll be disappointed as it does a lot well, but it does a lot well because it practically mirrors the first. Not a bad film by any stretch but doesn't offer enough new material to warrant its existence.