Davis: The Accountant more thrilling than you’d think

With all due respect to accountants everywhere, a movie called The Accountant does not sound very exciting.

Ben Affleck in The Accountant.

Ben Affleck in The Accountant.

However, it is a thriller starring Ben Affleck as a small-town CPA who leads a double life as a mathematical genius who helps launder money for ruthless crime lords. As the Treasury Department closes in, the accountant takes on a legitimate client to try to figure out a discrepancy involving millions of dollars. As he gets closer to the truth, the body count starts to rise.  This original sounding movie also stars Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmonds, Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow.

There are only a few stand-up comedians that have been successful enough to be able to have a wide theatrical release of one of their performances. The biggest was Eddie Murphy’s Raw which grossed over $50 million back in 1987.

There have been others who have had success, most notably Richard Pryor, but Kevin Hart is now the new king of the stand-up comedy movie. He already had success with Let Me Explain three years ago but with Kevin Hart: What Now?, he solidifies his place as one of the most successful stand-up comedians of all time.

What Now? was filmed in front of 53,000 people at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, the first time a comedian has ever performed to an at-capacity football stadium. While it likely will not gross the same amount as Raw, Hart will continue to move up the list of most successful comedy actors.

Max Steel is a superhero movie but it is based upon a line of action figures by Mattel rather than a comic book character. It was developed into two animated televisions series as well as a number of direct-to-video films.

If you have not heard of the character, it is not surprising as the toy line is most popular in Latin America and most of the animated films were only available in Spanish. Therefore, in most of North America, the Max Steel movie will likely not have a huge impact appealing mainly to the fans of the animated TV series and toy line.

The story is about 16-year-old Max McGrath who discovers that his body can generate the universe’s most powerful energy. Unbeknownst to him, he is being watched by an extraterrestrial named Steel and must bond with the alien to help contain the energy and use it to combat an alien menace.

For more on movies running locally, visit Landmark Cinemas.

 

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