Some of my long(er)-time readers may have noticed that I am
not one to shy away from certain aspects of mental disorders. Specifically,
when it comes to how modern-day cinema portrays said disorders. As someone who
freely admits to using movie-watching as a form of personal therapy (less risky
to lash out at a piece of fiction than at an actual person), seeing films use
mental conditions that I personally relate to can be a big part of that. Some
films do an incredible job with them like Inside Out, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children and X+Y, and some can make a complete dog’s breakfast out of
it like Mommy, Love Is Now and the more recent headache of Vaxxed. Today, we have another addition to that canon, except this is
something that I don’t think exists in that great a number out there in the
larger cinematic world. And quite frankly, we need more films like this.
The plot: Christian (Ben Affleck) is a forensic accountant
for a small practice in Illinois by day, and fixes the books for the criminal
underworld by night. He has been hired by technology magnate Lamar Blackburn
(John Lithgow) for an audit, and in-house accountant Dana (Anna Kendrick) has
already noticed something rotten in the paperwork. Meanwhile, Treasury
investigator Raymond (J.K. Simmons) and analyst Marybeth (Cynthia
Addai-Robinson) are trying to track down a shadowy accountant that has been
connected to some of the most notorious criminals in the world.
The cast here is really damn solid, save for one proper
stick in the mud. Over the last several months, Anna Kendrick has become an
actor that has completely flushed away any association with Twilight and is now
synonymous with quality content. Such a shame, then, that she is as amazingly
stiff and uncomfortable as she is here. There are some scenes where that
performance is called for, but mostly she just feels like she went through some
weird Space Jam incident and had all her talent sucked out. What makes this
even weirder is that, outside of her, the cast is definitely bringing their
A-game. Simmons is great as always, Jon Bernthal as hardened thug Braxton is
very intimidating, Jeffrey Tambor as Christian’s mentor Francis is nicely
underplayed and Lithgow just shows why the guy needs more work because he
clearly deserves. And then there’s Affleck, and I continue to be confused about
why everyone keeps ragging on his acting chops because, for the type of
character that he’s been given, he does a fantastic job and, as I’ll get into,
manages to transcend into stone-cold brilliant in record time.
The story here, honestly, isn’t that great on its own. Since
it deals heavily in accountancy and finances in general, it falls into a
similar pit as The Big Short from earlier this year in that a lot of the dramatic
tension ends up falling into unintelligibility. Unless you have some form of
training in financial matters, chances are the inner workings of the plot may
fall on deaf ears. Actually, this manages to fall further than The Big Short in
that regard because, for as intricate as it was, at least the important
revelations and jokes were made clear enough that they would work for a
mainstream audience. Here, not only are the scene connections a bit nebulous
but they will occasionally enter into the realm of just plain ridiculous. The
biggest offenders in that regard come around near the tail-end of the film,
which I won’t completely detail for spoiler reasons, but when we get further
into Raymond and Braxton’s connection to the main events, it can get more than a
little soap opera.
But I’m willing to ignore that entirely in favour of what
the film genuinely has going for it. Namely, one of the single best portrayals
of autism that I’ve encountered in a film in far too long. Christian himself is characterised as having autism
(or Autism Spectrum Disorder as it’s called now), and between Affleck as adult
Christian and Seth Lee as him as a kid, this is astoundingly accurate in terms
of portraying such conditions on screen. And yet, while staying relatively true
to life, it never ends up reaching the point of exploitation, like they’re just
parading the condition around for cheap pathos. This film understands quite a
bit about autism when it comes to mannerisms and social interactions, and I say
that as someone who has quite a few of those himself as someone on the
spectrum.
Now, I understand that the term "autistic" has taken on a
new meaning in the largely ableist Internet circles, so my next statement may
sound of that same ilk. Nevertheless, there is really no other way to describe
this film in its entirety than as an autistic power fantasy. Our main character
is intelligent, socially awkward but not completely inept, a raging comic book
geek (him taking his most precious possession, a copy of Action Comics #1, with
him when he has to leave home is one of my new favourite moments of the year)
and able to take down an entire room of thugs like the best of them. He’s the
kind of guy to bring a belt to a knife fight and win. Honestly, I have zero
issues with this. In an era where the average action film serves as a power
fantasy for your common alpha-male, having a film like this cut from the same
cloth but representing what is still a under-represented (and often misrepresented) segment of society is supremely
commendable.
All in all, even with its narrative issues and odd bits of
ridiculousness, I am in serious love with this film. With the world being as it
is, where people are clawing at each other under the banner of inclusion,
knowing that what is essentially a superhero film for those on the spectrum is
out in cinemas feels like we’re taking a definite step in the right direction.
Another notch on Ben Affleck’s belt as a criminally underrated actor, and
another surprising success for writer Bill Dubuque who also wrote 2014’s The Judge.
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