Tag Archives: jon-bernthal

The Accountant 2

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The first Accountant movie with Ben Affleck was fine, but not one of my favorite movies. I never thought it needed a sequel so when the announcement of The Accountant 2 was made, it did not make my list of anticipated movies.

I do believe that I liked this movie more than I did the original, but there are plenty of flaws here. Honestly, there is only one thing that made this an enjoyable time at the movie theater: The relationship between Be Affleck’s Christian Wolff and his brother, Braxton, played by Jon Bernthal.

According to IMDB, “When her former boss is killed by unknown assassins, Treasury Agent Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is forced to contact Christian Wolff (Affleck) to solve the murder. With the help of his estranged but highly lethal brother Brax (Jon Bernthal), Chris applies his brilliant mind and less-than-legal methods to piece together the unsolved puzzle. As they get closer to the truth, the trio draw the attention of some of the most ruthless killers alive — all intent on putting a stop to their search.“

I have a definite idea that had Jon Bernthal not been in this movie, I would not have liked it. I did not find the plot to be engaging, and it was fairly ham-fisted. The action was fine, but nothing that we haven’t seen before.

The key to this movie was the exceptional interaction between two actors at the top of their game. Affleck and Bernthal had remarkable chemistry and every moment they were on screen together was electric. Especially the scenes where they are not shooting things up. It almost had an action buddy cop type of feel for The Accountant 2, and I was here for that.

It did feel too long, but the scenes with the two leads really pulled this forward. I should also shout out the work of Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who made for a solid third in the story.

Overall, I thought this was a solid action movie with a great lead pairing between two exceptional actors. These actors elevated the material around them to a level where I found myself engaged instead of checked out.

3.7 stars

Origin (2023)

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June 11, 2024

The format of today’s June Swoon 3 is one unlike I have seen before and it takes a revolutionary director in order to make this work. Ava DuVernay is just such a director.

Origin adapts the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson, a book that laid out the idea that racism in the United States is a part of the concept of caste system, connecting racism in America to the attempted extermination of Jewish people by the Nazis, the caste system of India as well as other atrocities across the globe.

Such an undertaking was going to be difficult to attain, but DuVernay skillfully weaves the information, at times, in a documentary style, while mixing it with the drama of Isabel Wilkerson’s life during this stretch of working on the book when she lost her husband, mother and cousin.

The combination of docudrama is a difficult one to reach, but DuVernay does a masterful job of making this fully engaging while providing ideas that challenge the thoughts of a generation.

The lead role of the film was played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, showcasing an emotional arc for Isabel Wilkerson from early on in the film when she lost her husband, Brett (Jon Bernthal). The use of flashbacks and memories throughout the movie helped us see important aspects of Wilkerson’s life and relationships with her family and friends. Ellis-Taylor made these life moments extremely relatable and touching as we see her deal with loss and pain, as well as a love of life.

The film may be a little long, but there are so many great moments throughout that help us see the central point being made by the film. There are stories that are told such as the tale of Al Bright, a young boy whose baseball team just wanted to swim together as a celebration for a big win, but who was denied because he was black. Another story told the tale of a German Nazi and a Jewish woman’s relationship that broke all the rules of Nazi Germany and led her her eventual encampment at a concentration camp. These stories are important to the overall narrative of the piece and help highlight the concept of the book being written.

You wouldn’t think that a film could be made about a journalist writing a book about the caste system, but Ava DuVernay accomplished just that and it was compelling and amazing, even if it could be tough to watch at times.

You can watch Origin currently on Disney +/Hulu.