Gavin O'Connor - The Accountant

0:00 The show is getting bigger. Sometimes you gotta add a little depth to your roster. Garrett. I'm looking at your resume and first and foremost it says your film knowledge is extensive. Yes, sir, absolutely. Jeff all Right says here you have met more than your fair sheriff celebrities. Oh. Absolutely, Just to name a few real quick, Kane Hotter, Tony Todd, Mark McGrath also as well, I mean Mark McGrath. Yeah, we're going to deal with Godfrey, We're going Kale from Kenan and kel with it. The list goes on. Brother, but whether it's comedy orror musician, I'm always excited to meet him and try and learn a little more about the craft.

0:43 Uh. One one last thing here, and I think this is important to uh, I know some of our other co hosts. Uh, you're pretty you're pretty big on the comic con scene. Oh absolutely. Bit of cosplay, Yeah, absolutely love cosplaying to a lot of my natural EVA foam builds. And and then of course the one I'm most proud of currently is my three D printed Mandalorian cosplay. Absolutely excited to debut that coming up for our Cincinnati Comic Y Expos shows. So absolutely looking forward to it. Brother, i'd say you're hired. So I'll tell you what. Let's we got a pretty big movie coming out the later this weekend. So let's talk about a film by Gavin O'Connor, his twenty sixteen, initially underrated, now popular action thriller The Accountant. Hello, everybody, I'm Jeff Johnson, and this is a film by podcast. I am excited to welcome my very good friend Garrett Gibson to the show to

2:13 uh to talk about uh, The Accountant with me. Garrett, welcome, Thank. You, Jeff, appreciate it, sir. Excited to be here and look forward to going over some of our favorite moments and then counting. I gotta tell you, man like me and you, we've been this last year. So we've been we've been checking out movies. You know, You've always got amazing feedback. You've got great stories. I love talking movies with you. It was only a matter of time before I was gonna, you know, rope you into this this uh, this gig on a film buy as far as I was concerned. Hey, absolutely, brother, I'm just glad to be part of the journey, glad to be trying out for the team here and see how things go. Man, Absolutely well, we got we've got a great director here, Gavin O'Connor.

2:57 Uh. A couple of facts about Gavin and a quote from the man to begin a little something for all you Ted Demi fans. Back in nineteen ninety two, Gavin O'Connor wrote and produced Ted Dimi's directorial debut, a short film called The bet Last Christmas. Amber Lewis and I covered Ted Dimi's The ref Go back and check that one out or wait till Christmas your choice. Strained family relationships and redemption are themes that you'll find in his films. He actually was separated from his brother at an early age when their parents got divorced and they chose to live with different parents. And lastly, back in twenty thirteen, he began work on adapting the novel The Hustler for the stage. And if you don't know The Hustler, it is a fantastic book, absolutely fantastic film starring Paul Newman.

3:54 I would definitely recommend that one. Hopefully he gets back to that and finishes it. And last a quote from Gavin O'Connor, he once said, I want to be making films that are somehow born out of me, that are stories I want to tell. The challenge is figuring out how to do it where you can make them personal yet still deliver to an audience a film experience that is satisfying and emotional. And that's what I'm trying to do. So, like I said, man, this this movie. Initially, I don't think it was as known as it is now. Obviously we've got We've got The Accountant Part two coming out, They're already in development on a third one. But I gotta I gotta say, like, you know, I was talking about this movie with a couple other people and they're like, what, What's what's that one? What's he do? Is that ad Jason sat at the movie? I'm like, No, it's it's Ben Affleck. It's The Accountant, Garrett. Any chance you can give a quick synopsis, let the listeners know what The Accountant is all about?

4:58 Absolutely, so that overview of the film is Christian Wolf, played by Ben Affleck, is a mathematics savant and with more affinity for numbers than people. Using a small town's CPA office as a cover, he makes his living as a freelance accountant for dangerous criminal organizations with a treasury agent played by JK. Simmons by the name of Raymond King hot on his heel, Christian takes on the state of the Art Robotics company as a legitimate client. As Wolf gets closer to the truth about a discrepancy that involves millions of dollars in theft, the body count starts to rise.

5:38 Not bad, my friend, not bad. Pretty accurate account of the accountant, I have to say. Surprisingly, this was originally intended for Mel Gibson to start in with the Coen Brothers directing. Really yeah, imagine that. Now think about this. Do you remember movie Mel did called Conspiracy Theory? So oh him Patrick Stewart, Yes. Sir, yeah, So I could see him playing this character. I could almost see him. I could almost see this movie being like a sequel to that in some ways. Absolutely I could see that. And especially with work Mel Gibson was doing, you know, late nineties, early two thousands up till about twenty ten, you're looking at movies like Conspiracy Theories, You're looking at Payback, you're looking at edge of darkness. With Mel Gibson, those tough, gritty movies. I feel like that is something produced with the Cohens. I think that would have been something that everyone would love to have seen. But that being said, Ben Affleck does an absolutely amazing and instellar job with this, and Gavin O'Connor directed it absolutely perfectly.

6:56 I gotta agree with you, man, because I love this film. I know some people that didn't love it. The the autism community, surprisingly this is a little outspoken against it. Now. They both O'Connor and Affleck, they worked, you know, they stated that they worked with autistic people to understand to learn about about this world. And uh, you know, there's a lot of a lot of fans that are you know, that are like, you know, this doesn't this isn't an accurate representation of our community. Be that as it may, though, it's still hell a hell of a thriller as far as I'm concerned. What do you think?

7:37 You're absolutely correct. There's a few films such as this, and even jumping over to I want to say it's twenty thirteen, twenty eleven film Paint and Gain Mark Wohlberg, Oh yeah, Dwayne and Rock Johnson. That movie got a lot of flack because it's based off a true story, and those people like you're going to a theater. You're laughing at these bumbling boobs and all this stuff and hid insight. This movie is about someone that was kidnapped, someone that was eventually murdered in this old scenario. So I do get it. When you start messing around with real world things, everyone is going to have an opinion on it and you will eventually affect somebody by it.

8:23 But with the way Gavin O'Connor and Ben Affleck approached it, I think they went about it the correct way. I think they handled it with the utmost respect for the community. I do absolutely so. It's one of those things that myself, not being afflicted by it, I did not see an issue with it, but I do see how some people could have been. Yeah, I think the I think the main criticism is that maybe some of the stereotypes are are emphasized for dramatic effect, which it's Hollywood, You're gonna have that. I'm not saying it's right, but you know something, sometimes it's gonna happen. Yeah, especially with scenes with the deprivation where he's in the room with the flashing lights, the sound going off and rolling, Yeah, just to meet his sensory needs, so he actually normalized himself essentially, is what he's trying to do.

9:18 Yeah, I mean, and the movies, you know, it kind of sets up the premise early on. You know, we I love I love when we see young Christian and go to the go to the center and he's doing the puzzle, the the the Ali puzzle upside down. You don't know it, but you know there's a great reveal. Uh. Meanwhile, we've got like, you know, we've got the parents talking with the specialist and he's basically explaining they're they're, they're, they're, They're kind of giving us the backstory of who this guy is gonna be right, but I don't know, I I dig it. And it's the Easter egg there that with the little girl that's gonna play throughout the movie that I think it's fan fantastic. Garrett, let's take a quick break. When we get back. We gotta talk about we gotta talk about Ben and we got to talk about some of us co stars.

10:07 All right, sounds perfect, brother, Thank. You, Welcome back. Garrett Gibson is here. We are talking about Gavin O'Connor's the accountant. Garrett. I want to we gotta start off with Ben Affleck playing Christian Wolf, an accountant for hire to the most dangerous criminals in the underworld. Also has a high functioning form of autism, which lends itself to his narrow focus and inability to abandon tasks and a hard time socializing with people even though he wants to listen. I know you are no stranger to the world of comic books. I love the fact that he uses the Solomon Grundy your nursery rhyme to soothe himself, calm himself down.

10:54 That you know, that's one of the most amazing things. When I first watched this film and he's rattling it off and she's listening to it and re recording of it. She's trying to take it down, break it down to exactly what he is saying in that first Crystal Clear moment where she's like Slomon Grundy born on a Monday, and I'm like, get out of here. I love this. I'm telling you that's I could be wrong, but I think that's definitely Ben Affleck adding something to the character, because you know he's a big DC guy. He loves comics. Surprise me. Yeah, it's one of those things where he's he's grabbing the get grab bag when he's got Andrew Kendrick with Enna Kendrick with him, and one of the only things he grabs is the Superman Action comics off the top of the stack and puts it in the bug out bag.

11:44 And yeah, that's. Something where it's like, yep, that's Ben Affleck. We're gonna get to that. So Ben stated that his performance in this film is one of his top five personal favorites. The others on the list include his work in Chasing Amy Argo, Goodwill Hunting, and his various appearances as Batman. So I gotta be honest, I think Christian Wolf that he's keeping great company because all those characters are fantastic, you know, Bruce, Wayne, Chucky, Tony Hold McNeil.

12:26 I think Christian Wolf's right there with them. Man, I'm glad that this is becoming a franchise. It should have. I mean, think about this. We're nine years in the making on the sequel. Thankfully, they're already in production, like I said, on the third one, but we should be at like the account in Part four or five at this point, don't you think. So You're right, brother, it's one of those things where it comes along every now and then where a film doesn't get a lot of sizzle when it first comes out, but then years later it starts to hit you with that slow burn where you're like, oh, this is kind of like a cold classic, we want more of this? How can we get more of this cold, calm and calculated ben Affleck. I mean it's happened with numerous movies like this, like the first boon Dock Saints. We did not see Boondock Saints All Saints Day until ten years later, and then they were in talks with the trilogy, and now we're again fifteen years down the road. It's one of those things where it kind of goes by the wayside when you have such a great movie but you don't know how it's going to go, and then you hit the box office and it doesn't get the return that you want it first, and it kind of makes you take that step back and keep you from capitalizing on greatness, which I'm glad they're finally doing because John Burnhalt and Ben Affleck together again is something I'm absolutely excited to see on the big screen yet again.

13:50 Yeah, and think about it, not only that, but behind the scenes. You got Gavin O'Connor coming back for the sequel, you got Bill Debuke coming back as the writer, so you know we're getting the band back together and that's a good thing. Yeah, absolutely right. And I know everyone saw the little snippet and the trailer. JK. Simmons is the one waven the note essentially to the accountant. So that's one of those things where it's like, Okay, do we get some flashbacks with JK? Like I want to see more of him as well. Him as Raymond King is just absolutely mind blowing. I thought he portrayed the part perfectly and I look forward to seeing even if it's just a little bit more of him in that role as well.

14:33 Well, we'll get to him. I got. I got one more fun thing for you about Ben Affleck. It's not just his love of comics that he's putting into this movie. He also shares a love of numbers with the character I didn't know if you knew this, Garrett. His reputation as one of the better known card counters is the reason he's been banned from several high profile casinos. As it's a hid bit of information I did not. Yeah, so it's Yeah, when it comes to blackjack and poker, you do not want to sit down at the table with Ben. It gets you. He'll get you and see he'll coin you out like as a scene from the town right there, buddy, I'll tell you.

15:13 Right yeah, yeah, you were talking about JK there as agent ray King. He's coming off he's coming off hot from his Oscar win for Whiplash. Oh, which, yeah, I mean, this is one of those guys. His his filmography is so extensive. He's a great character actor. He's been a great character actor. You know. He I think he kind of gets his claim to fame with Spider Man playing j Jonah, Yes, sir, But then we see a whole other side of him when Whiplash comes out. You've seen Whiplash, yes, Oh, absolutely masterpiece honestly, and I couldn't speak higher of the film. Absolutely, Uh love that one. And here he is is ray King one year later. So he's kind of a name.

15:57 He's he's this is a reason to go see this movie. Know, he's you know, prominently in the trailer and you're like, yeah, this is you know, are we going to have like a catch me if you can type of scenario where he's the agent trying to track down Ben Affleck or is there going to be like an alliance between them? Love the fact that ultimately we know there is an alliance. It's not that he's trying to catch him. He just wants to know who he is. And I love that about the movie. I love that about his character. It's the man he is, his life too, the man that asked him that simple question, were you a good father? Yeah? And after he says I was a lousy agent, and he's like, I led a terrible career, but a father is one thing I didn't mess up. I was a good Yeah, And it just hits home. It's one of those things delivered just perfectly by JK. Simmons.

16:46 Jk's great in this Let's talk about some of the ladies in this one. Anna Kendrick as Dana Cummings. She works, She works for John Letgow. She based her performance on her mom, who is a real life accountant. She takes the script home, her mom reads it with her and explains the math so to speak, and gives her because like, you know, one thing, I honestly, watching Anna Kendrick in this movie, I just would assume that she was like a mathematician super nerd in high school and new you know, speed math and strength theory and all that crazy stuff that they talk about. Because she is so she speaks so casually about it, and like her love for it really comes across, you know with the character. Man, I don't know, she's absolutely adorable. I love that she's like slightly nerdy with her performance.

17:47 Yes, and just so engaging, right, she really is Like movies like this, and I wanna I want to say the movie was mister Wright if I'm not mistaken her and Sam Rockwell. If I'm not mistaken, that could be the wrong name of the film, but just the quirkiness of her just being so adorable and Sam Rockwell was playing a hit man. It's just such a funny little film. They've got Riza from the Wu Tang clan in it. But it's another one of those roles by her that I feel like plays well with the serious character and Ben Affleck or Sam Rockwell or whichever it may be.

18:29 She's one of those character actors that I believe gives enough subsistence to the role and not only that, but does her homework for the role to where it can actually compliment what they're doing in the film as well. Were you surprised or not surprised at you know what, you're watching the chemistry between her and Ben Affleck. You know it goes from a kind of awkward, kind of cold while they're at the office to the hotel. And I almost say, on the scenes, we'll get the scenes here in a couple minutes. But were you surprised that we never saw the the romantic moment between them because we come real close to one and then he kind of pulls, he pulls back. I don't know, is the movie is a movie missing something because of that or is the movie right to leave it alone?

19:21 So I want to say the movie is right to leave it alone. But it is one of those things when you're in the hotel with him and she's like, well, why did you pick this hotel? And he's liked, it's got good water pressure. Yeah, it's got better water pressure than most. It doesn't have the scratchy towels. And then thirdly he's like, I thought you would like it. And then they get that close face to face, you feel the kiss coming and everything, and then all of a sudden he pops up and he puts the whole thing together. He figures out you know, who's behind it, the who done it moment essentially. Yeah, Yeah, I kind of feel like yeah, because he even points out that he he has trouble socializing, and I kind of feel like he pulls the the rip chord, you know, he you know, he feels her getting close, he doesn't know what to do, and then his brain switches over to this is how they're doing it at the at the lab, at the tech place, right. I don't know. I regardless, the chemistry between them is fantastic. Well, whether it's the awkward stuff and the and the uh the the meeting room, or it's the on the run stuff where he's he's uh turned, you know, showing like all the badass uh skill sets that he has. I think it's fantastic between them. Uh, They're not the only ones with great chemistry that we talked about JK. Simmons.

20:45 How about Cynthia Adi Robinson. Uh, she's playing the analyst Marybeth Medina. Oh, she did an absolutely amazing job with her and JK. Simmons hot on the trail on that. As soon as things start unraveling, she starts deep diving on these nursery rhymes. She starts deep diving on the mathematicians, and as soon as she figures out that it is someone that's probably has a high form of functioning autism, she starts putting together the aliases for him, and that's ultimately how she kind of cracks the case and finds that last missing puzzle piece. It's funny. I'm watching this. I love what she's doing in the movie. I'm excited that she's back for the sequel, and I'm asking myself, like, why, why, where is she?

21:33 How come we we don't have more of her? And then it hits me. She's Navia from Spartacus. Oh my god. I never I just like like this this last watch, I was like, you know, and it's I think it's probably because I watched Spartacus did a rewatch about a month ago. Yeah, this is this is Navia and. That's that's uh. Crixis his wife direct Okay, I thought, so okay. And you know she's h if you're a fan of the shit, I know. She's currently featured on Amazon's Lord of the Ring series Rings of Power. I haven't got into it yet. I planned to it at some point, I think. But you know she's doing all right. You know, got an Amazon series and a new movie coming, so she's doing good. Funny thing. Yeah, you mentioned how she kind of uncovers Christian's clever use of aliases. You know, he's using famous mathematicians, famous famous autistics. A quick question for you, Garrett, Yes, because I love. I love on a movie, especially whether if it's a mystery or a thriller, and you've got a character who's using aliases, and there's always some kind of connection, like what connects all the different names? I know, you know, we recently lost Val Kilmer and I've been on a Val Kilmer binge. I love in the Saint things like nineteen ninety seven, and he's using names from like all the famous saints, Catholic saints, and that's what you know. And Christian's doing this. I'm like, you know, what if I was on the run or if I was had a double life, I'm totally doing this.

23:05 I'm gonna use clever aliases. I want to say how good of an agent you are, though, because I think you're gonna get this. But we'll give we'll get the listeners, give them a chance to have a little fun. You're tracking me down. I'm gonna give you. I'm gonna give you some names you just stopped me. When you get it, you might find me under the names James Duggan, Randy Poffo, oh, Theodora Dbasi. So we're going classic late seventies, eighties and nineties wrestlers here, and we're going with Ted Dbassi. We're going with Randy Savage. And what was the first one again, James Duggan, Oh, Hacksaw.

23:47 Jim Duggan Absolutely. Yes, from Glenn Falls, New York. Hacksaw. I love it, brother. Okay, how about you? Would you choose three aliases? Let's see here. I'd go with Well, I big fan of cinema, of course, big fan of classic cinema. So I would go with Bo Darvil. I would go with Gator McCluskey, and I would go with Sam Whiskey, ad Min Jeff. Are you Burt Reynolds, I'm Burt Reynolds. Oh yeah, well you've got you know what you've got that you've got the look for Bert you can you can pull it off? Man, See they did sired Gator.

24:29 I was like, yeah, it's one of my all time favorites. Right there. Oh, so two more guys I want to I want to briefly talk about. Uh, let's let's talk about a couple of John's. We got John Liftgal as tech billionaire Lamar Blackburn. He's the one who hires the accountant, sets sets everything in motion. I love that we get Liftgal the gentle, nice guy, and we also get a different left goal later. Did you I didn't see that coming honestly at first. No, No, you're absolutely right. This is a classic John left Gal move where he shows up. You're like, okay, well, John left Gal, He's definitely not the bad guy. He's the guy being taken advantage of.

25:16 Yes, he. Wears it so well. It's it's like the mister Rogers approach almost comes in wearing a card again. You're like, now it's not have already, you're just getting to get through the door. But then a lot of people forget like classic lift Gal movies like Ricochet with Denzel Washington. Oh yeah, he's the maniacal bad guy, so you've always got to watch him. It's like a double edged sword with him. He's either playing the super charismatic you know, fun love and tech billionaire, or he's also playing the guy and secretly trading money, building his company larger and getting ready to take it public so they make trillions. Lyft gal at his worst, he's a serial killer, ruining decks life. At his best, he's still trying to, you know, stop the town of Beaumont from dancing. You know, he's having he's having an affair with Deborah Winger. In terms of endearment, you know, you gotta watch Lyft gal Man.

26:14 I mean, this is the guy that took Shrek Swamp from him. I mean, I got to tell you you got to keep an eye on this guy no matter what. You know. You know, some people will will hear this and be really happy, really thrilled. Some people like me will be sad, you know. And again he's one of the all time greats. But he recently signed a ten year deal with Warner Brothers Discovery. I didn't know if you knew this, Garrett. He's playing Dumbledore in their upcoming Harry Potter reboot TV series or reimagination or whatever. They're basically they're remaking Harry Potter, but as a TV SERI like a prestige TV series, and he's Dumbledore. But he's already said, you know, at his current age, which is seventy nine, he has openly revealed it will most likely be his final role.

27:05 Oh man, just with so many terrific roles of a lifetime, whether it's even his smaller work like the campaign, him and Dan Aykroyd being together, he's the Brothers, like absolutely amazing there, or any of the many roles that we've already discussed with him and him, it feels like such a crime that we will not get to see so much more of that great John Lyft gal, whether he's a villain or if he's one of the good guys or whatever it may be. It feels like a crime. But I you know, I'm excited for him. I'm excited to see the reimagining of the Harry Potter. Of course, you know, it's going to be something huge for him, and of course not all of us can just do it forever. So I completely get him. Yeah, you know, eighty nine years old when he bowls out, that's not.

27:53 Bad, Yeah, Garrett. He he convinced us that he could kick so the loan's ass on a mountaintop and cliffhanger. He really did I mean, come on, it's just I don't know, like I'm salty about it, just because it's like James Cameron with the Avatar situation. We know the genius that is James Cameron. Yes, but for how many decades have we not received it? Have we not enjoyed it? Because he's in the Avatar world making Avatar two three, and at last count, he's like he's planning to make like six of these things.

28:35 It's like, come on, man, I mean, yeah, you get Aliens, you get Terminator. I mean, you get these great films, and you. Get crue lies, the abyss. Lies that the eraser like he does so many where you're like, oh I love this film that wait, this is a James Cameron hold on. Yeah, So now you're absolutely right. It's something where you lose this actor, you lose this director, you lose this writer for fifteen years off to one project, and it's like, I don't know if the trade off is fair for it. I don't know. I don't either. I don't either. Let's move on to another John though John Burenthal playing Braxton, can we just say I mean the heat check that it's his opening scene hopping in that guy's car immediately teaching lessons, you know, about interrupting someone. I fucking love John Burenthal. Like at bottom line, he's never done a bad performance. He's never in a bad movie.

29:36 Yeah, in my personal opinion, Nope, you're absolutely right, Jeff. I know he's blowing up right now because of the Daredevil and Punisher back. So like this guy's getting a lot of traction. The Accountant two's coming out. I mean, it's been a few great years for John Burenthal, whether it's on television or in cinema, but a few of his roles, especially like this Braxton character, I've absolutely loved over the years, And honestly, one of my favorite parts of this movie is just when he's having the sit down, probably about the halfway point of this film, and he's sitting down there with Andy Elmberg, which plays Ed Chilton, the Parker there at the robotics firm, and he's sitting there explaining to him like, hey, we make this look like an accident and I'll just be on a very little way. Your wife gets some money, He's like, or you can refuse, and I have to turn this into a home invasion. And then I go do unspeakable things to your wife. Ed Chilton sitting there shaking, and he's like, he's like, ah, I'm just kidding. Sometimes I just want to hear myself talk. He's like, I wouldn't do none of that, but I would park a forty five caliber bull into her brain.

30:55 Pan. Yeah. It's like, oh man, okay, this that just brilliant every which way with him in this film. He cooks in every scene he's in because it's just fun to hear him talk, right, And what the great The great thing about this movie, and you know, spoiler alert because it's been out since twenty sixteen and we got sequel coming, The great thing about this is they're setting him up as like, oh, this is the guy that's that's being called in to stop the accountant. You know, we're gonna get a great fight between him and Ben Affleck and the whole while you're getting the ben Affleck's you know, flashbacks about his childhood growing up. He's got a little brother, the little brothers there the whole time.

31:41 I gotta be honest, the first time I saw this in the theater, I wasn't even thinking about that until the reveal at the end when they're like hey, Braxton. It's like hey Braxton, like you like we I haven't seen you in ten years, like you know, you know, I love I love what they're doing. I'm totally believable as a big brother, little brother. I think, oh, you're absolutely crack. Yeah, No, totally believable, big brother, little brother. I got to say, when I saw this in theaters, I did not see it coming until the point where I want to say it's one of the henchmen if I'm not mistaken. But it's during the wrap up there when they're coming to of course for John lef Gal and the one calls him a freak, and then John Burnhal's face when he's looking at the cameras trying to find him and everything, just the disbelief that he heard the word freaking. I'm like, hold on, is this this little brother? Like, hold on a second, wait, what do we got cooking here?

32:39 Yeah, let's talk about what's cooking. Let's talk a little bit about the film's background. Mentioned Bill Debuke earlier. He created Ozark the year after he did this movie. Now that is a phenomenal piece of entertainment. There racing datement. Yes, yeah, so my only question is because he He's done the accountant movies he created, He created Ozark, wrote this, wrote the bulk of the series. He wrote in twenty fourteen, he wrote that movie The Judge with Robert down or Robert down Jr. Yep. Yeah, so kind of surprised that this guy is not doing a whole lot more in the past ten years because he's hot man, he's he's a great writer.

33:21 I think The Judge is one of those movies where it was a sleeper. I don't think a lot of people knew what it was going to be when it came out, and then like, you've got Robert Downey Jr. You got Robert Duvall on it. Fall is amazing in it. It's absolutely It's a masterpiece, is what it is. And I feel like it may have been overshadowed or something when it come out, But I know it's one that I did not get to experience in theaters. But I watched it afterward and I was just blown away, and I was kind of upset that I didn't push myself to go to the theaters and watch this one. Let's talk about the priceless works of art inside Christian's airstream trailer. So we got Renoise painting a Friend in Need.

34:06 You've got Jackson Pollock's nineteen forty six painting free Form. Garrett. You mentioned Action Comics number one, which obviously showcases the first appearance of Superman. Garret. I'll give you three guesses which of those I'm taking, but you only need one clearly. I'll also note though he's got a Luke Skywalker Graphlex flash lightsaber, which I would assume is like we're mentally that that's one of the screen used once from Empire Strikes Back. Yes, absolutely, Yeah, Honus Wagner baseball card. He's got All American Comics sixteen, which was the first appearance of Green Lantern, which is huge. Yep, just just I mean, you see all the stacks of cash and the gold bars, but my brain's immediately go one of the baseball cards in the comic books, obviously.

34:56 So I fanned girls so hard when he opened the drawer and you see that Action Comics never once sitting there, and it's like, oh yeah, I just get so excited about that. My palms get sweaty. Though every time I watched that scene where he's like you mentioned him like he's trying to pack up stuff quickly, you know, in his bug out bag. I get so nervous the way he handles that action comics. Yeah, and like just grabs it thoughts, Oh, like. Yeah, we're your stomach, a little bit of. Yeah, where's your white gloves? Where's the plastic? Come on, man, help me out? Uh? Speaking of comics. Uh. Twenty fifteen, a graphic novel of this film was published by Vertigo. I'd love to get my hands on that.

35:38 Oh absolutely, if I can imagine it plays out a lot. In those graphic novels, I guarantee you get a lot of the same imagery that you get from a couple of these shows that have been adapted to like Amazon as of late stuff like The Boys and everything that's Colleen graphic novels. I'd say you get a lot of that NonStop action, nasty arm break stuff in there. Yeah, that is something I would absolutely look forward to get my hands on. You, sir, absolutely. I bet I bet you that put a smile on someone like Berenthal's face. You had a con you put that down in front of the sign, you know, Oh yeah, I bet I bet Garrett. Let's talk about a couple of scenes in this movie, some noteworthy scenes, if you will, and what we think might be the pivotal moment. Got a couple here to go through with you. Let's talk about target shooting at the farm. So, yes, okay, farmer watches him set up these three melons. He's like a mile out. I love that though. The Farmer's like, not on my best day. And then Christian takes three perfect shots. I looked it up. He's using a barrettmmate to a fifty caliber sniper rifle.

36:53 Which is an anti aircraft gun. Yes, the sound it makes, man, and there's nothing, I mean nothing left in that melon. It's just juice, you know. No. And a little further into the movie you actually get to see him use this on some people. But the fact that you can see the person get hit by it and then traveled about five seconds after you hear the gun go off, so it is literally breaking the sound barrier to get to. Yeah, fantastic. It's a fun little scene. I'll tell you one of the scenes I love. I'm not saying this is the pivotal moment, but I love this scene. The crunching numbers montage. How do they make math look so damn cool.

37:37 They not only made it look cool, but I think it sucked you into it even more to where you were more interested in what he was looking at, what he was finding, because myself and I guarantee a lot of us out there are not the best with maths. So when we see all that stuff breaking down, we're looking at like, I just see something, what is this here? And then you start deep diving trying to figure out what he's gotta help here on this glass? I love you. I mean he's burned through those dry race markers and chucking him in the waste paper can. Uh, and then he's basically he's turning all the glass in the room into art. As far as I'm. Concerned, you're absolutely right, brother, Uh. I read this. I couldn't believe it because you're watching Ben Affleck writ on the glass, right, We're seeing it's his handwriting. But there's no way he could possibly do that much in that room, that that meeting room. I looked it up. They actually took a sample of his handwriting, digitized it and turned it into a font on the computer, and then they printed out sheets of it so that he didn't have to do all that writing. How how crazy is that?

38:47 That is actually pretty freaking cool. I'm not even gonna lie. I did take it to that extreme and like that next step to where you're like, all right, we're using his handwriting. Let's make this legible. Let's make this one hundred percent accurate. That he's actually done this work here. You know, props to the team and to whoever he figured out that they needed to do that, you know, good on you for that. Uh huh. I love the fact too normal people and I use the term I use that term, you know, cautiously. Uh, they're looking at all the writing and they're just kind of stupefied. They're like what they like? They don't know what to think. But I love that. Anna Kendrick when she comes into the office the next day, she's fascinated.

39:34 She's like, she's got the biggest smile on her face and she's like, oh my god, it took me a year to do one month and you did ten years overnight. And he's like, yeah, I did, but check this out, you know, he to calm. He is love that moment. Man. I love a good montage. But if you told me a montage about someone writing numbers all over the wa the whiteboards. I'd be like, that's not ain't gonna work. But this, man, this is one. This is one of the cooler montages. I'm gonna go ahead and say it is. So you know, like you said, like just the way Bill wrote this, the fact that this is something that even on paper, there's no way anyone's like, this is going to be exciting, this is going to be awesome.

40:23 Then you actually see it in the movie, like there's no way they read the script like this is going to be the scene that like you know, makes. It mm hmm. Then once you see it in the film and you're like, I couldn't imagine this movie without this scene here it put It shows how much hard work and dedication he put into it. And then not only that, but also solved exactly what was happening in a like twelve hours yeah span of time there, which is pretty damn impressive. It's impressive, dude. As impressive as the mathematics are, the fight sequences in this movie more are all the more so. Let's talk about Christians saving the farmers. Garrett. Never bring a knife to a never bring a knife to a belt fight.

41:10 No Tate Fletcher learned that the hard way. Man. I can't help but laugh at the first time he whips that assassin in the face with his belt, and that guy he just barely honibles what the fuck like he does like did I just get hit in the face with his belt? You know that guy right there, He's one of the new like henchmen of like our time, Like every now and then, like we'll get these people where you're like, hold on, I've seen this guy in something else and they always play a very similar character. So that is Tate Fletcher. If you look this guy up, he has done a you know, so many films where he is just Okay, me and this other guy, we're gonna go kidnap somebody. He is always that character in every movie and unlortunately he meets his demison about every single one. Uh.

42:01 The The martial arts used in the movie is a form of pinchack salot, which it incorporates striking, grappling, and weaponry. It's from Indonesia, apparently, I'll tell you something. This style of fighting also prominently on display in a movie we're covering next week. And I'm pretty sure our friend and Patreon remember James Buckley knows which one I'm talking about, So more more on that later, But I bet James is smiling right now because he know he knows what movie I'm talking about. Moving on, though, Garrett, I want to talk about There's two more scenes I want to talk about, but right now I want to talk about what I feel is the pivotal moment, and I'm talking about the prom dress story. How how Dana relates to Chris so throughout the hotel. You know, they're on the run at this point he saves her. They're in this really nice hotel. Uh, and she's kind of like, how how do you? How did you? How do you do what you just did? Because he he dispatches, like how many guys in her apartment?

43:04 Oh? Yeah, like just obliterates them standard chance. So, you know, he kind of explains his upbringing, you know, military dad arranges for him to be trained by various experts. He's basically turning his son into Batman as far as I'm gonna ten. But they relate through you know, they're talking about speed, math and accounting, and she shares this story about this vera Wang prom dress that she wanted, you know, and she she just, you know, he wants to be seen as normal, and she just wanted to walk into the prom and hear everyone say wow. And that's that's her way of finding a way to connect to people, you know, kind of how Christian does. And I love that she uses the prom dress story to show him that that they are pretty much alike. You know.

43:50 Yeah, I think you're absolutely right to find that common ground, to find that what you were seeking to find normality when you're growing up. And you know, for both of them it was drastically different things, of course, but they were both looking for the same feeling at the end of the day. And whether it's a fourteen hundred hours prom dress or trying to get a handle on your sentry overload. Absolutely, I just. Think it's great too. And you you kind of talked about this when we were talking about Anna Kendrick earlier. I love that, you know, Gavin O'Connor does such a great job with his directing here, and their performances are great because you're leaning in, You're like, this is the moment they're gonna the kisses the kid. You know, why'd you pick this hotel?

44:33 Oh? It's good, good, good water pressure but you know, she's like, the holiday inn has good water pressure. He's like, I wanted you to like it. You know, he's trying to impress her, and you're like and then you're like, oh, like, yep, nope, ain't gonna happen for him. Never got the kiss, Yeah, never. Got the kiss. But I listen, I think we did get the pivotal moment here because this was you know, why is he going out of his way to save this girl, protect this girl? You know, his his contact, you know, his handler, uh even puts points it out. She's like, you don't owe this girl anything. Pack up, get out of here. They know who you are. But he there's a connection between the two, there's chemistry. He sees it, you know, Dana sees it. You know. I love the moment for him. You know, it's a will they won't they moment that that really works without the use of, you know, the cliche of oh now they're you know, how many times have you seen an action movie like this where the guy and the girl they're gonna have that moment they hook up, and then in the morning they're they're leaving, but now they're together. You know, I'm glad that. I'm glad that they don't. They don't do it honestly.

45:37 Because honestly, if this was nineteen eighty six, they go ahead, they do that. They did. Oh yeah, then for the last twenty minutes he's got her with him and they're and then they're John west Gal's house fighting them out. Yeah, this is eighty six. These two. There's there's a there's blue lighting. It's a Tony Scott movie. Oh and you know, and there's a there's a there's a a top forty that that that. Yeah, something's happening. All right, Gary, one more scene. I don't know what you uh, I don't know what your pivotal moment is, but I got one more scene. Maybe this might be it for you. Uh. Let's talk about Ray King's first meeting with the accountant. He's explaining, he's basically giving us the backstory as he's explaining to Medina Agent Medina, he's where he's filling us in, like, oh, okay, they were there at the mob hit. You know when this guy takes out like nine got nine people dead, he's spared, And since then he's been feeding Ray intel that that builds his entire career, right, uh. I love that he explains the accountant's moral code. You know, if you, if you, if you violate his moral code, he's nothing can save you, right, and he tells Medina, you know his time, Hey, my time's a most up. But when she calls, someone needs to answer of the phone because he's just giving the intel that you know, make just career launch. You know, situations happened.

47:03 I think you're absolutely right, and you know, to to kick that off. Later in the film, they go ahead and wrap up of why Ben Affleck was there in the first place to take out the gangster and is because again he shared connections with very few people throughout his entire life, you know, and that's why he's on this war path now to protect and Nick Kendrick instead of just flaying town. Of course, that being the friendship that while he was in prison after his arrest and everything, he became friends with an amazing actor. Absolutely loved him and several things Jeffrey. Chamber I forgot about him.

47:45 That dude is amazing. Played Francis Silverbird, but taught him everything you needed to know about forensic accounting. And you know, he worked for the Gambino crime family and everything like that, so it kind of like helps you build that care connection. You're like, oh, wait, he did have a connection. He wasn't just mindlessley like at this hotel like yep off on a random job. Is because somebody took something from him that he would never get back, and with making so little connection acrossed his life, he felt that they owed him a pound of flesh. So he went after him and that creates that first pivotal moment. And I think you're right. I think this is the pivotal moment of the film. Okay, And yeah, I think you're right because with JK. Simmons and Ben Affleck coming together for the first time on screen, and if I'm not mistaken, it's the only time their past actually cross all the screen together.

48:41 That's it, not even a phone call. Exactly for you to have these two Titanic heavyweights just back and forth once hot on the trail, like you said, catch me if you can. Almost they're never in the same room except for in that scene. And I think with everything ben Affleck's character was going through, Christian Wolf was going through in those moments, and he sees this man and he stops before pulling the trigger and doing something mind was. He goes ahead and asks him a few simple questions and JK. Simmons Raymond King gives him the answers that he's looking for because it does not go against his moral code. One of the only things Ben Afflex character is known in the film is what a great father looked like. And as soon as he says, I've done a lot of bad things and made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I was a good father, that is everything. Yeah, that is something that bonds those two characters right there. And like I said, for it being a two hour and sixteen minute long movie, if I'm not mistaken, for them to share a screen time of maybe three to four minutes in that hallway, it's it's mind blowing. But I feel like that is a moment that builds that film like astronomically, like more than anything else could.

50:03 Good call man, good call? Uh? All right, I'll tell you what. Let's let's take one last break. When we come back, we'll start wrapping things up. Sounds good, So, Garrett, let's just uh, let me let me break this down for you. Let's imagine someone has watched The Accountant. They absolutely loved it. They go to you and they say, hey, this guy, Gavin O'Connor, I love this movie. What else? What else should I watch? What? What would your three recommendations be to someone wanting more of Gavin O'Connor. So if they've already seen The Accountant, I'm going to of course put that at top of my list already.

50:47 But another great movie he did back in twenty eleven. The Warrior Warrior. Yes, absolutely, it was ahead of its time. You know, that's when MMA first started blowing up one one ed part of it. And it's one of those things I don't think we really necessarily got a lot of where like we had the never back downs and things like that. Yeah, but I think The Warrior is something or Warrior not The Warrior. Warrior did something so amazing because you got Tom Hardy and Joel Edgarton in it, yep, and both of their acting is just top notch. It's a masterpiece to watch, and I think it's just beautifully directed. It's one of those things that again I would not have one bad word to say about that film.

51:36 You better not are being You're gonna get in the octagonies. This is you know, you got Hardy and Edgerton. They're playing a strange sons to Nick Nolty's OSCAR nominated performance as an alcoholic father. And I don't care what you say. He was robbed. He should have got the Academy Ward for this performance. When he when he has that breakdown with the the Moby dick on Hape, Tom Hardy kind of has to put into bed. Dude. That's that's It's just it's heartbreaking, but. It's a heart ranching You're absolutely right. It's this is a modern day Rocky though set in the world of M M A. I'll tell you right now, you'll it's It's on my all time top ten list because if you have a brother, the end of this movie and you know what I'm talking about, Like, every time I watch this, I tear up. I immediately want to call my brother and and just talk to him.

52:31 I want to go find him and hugg him. This one, man, it pulls at your heartstrings. Jennifer Morrison I talked to her a couple of years ago, and uh, you know, everyone was talking. You know, she was she was doing a thing for What's the ABC show? She had the fairy tale thing. Oh my goodness. Uh you know what I'm talking about, right, Yep, yep, I'm the I'm the one. I'm the one schmuck there. That's like, can we talk about Warrior for a minute. But she lived up, dude. She was like, oh my, like, it was so much fun to work with Joel, and Gavin's this visionary director. He's so amazing. You know, she had she had a lot of anything to say about Gavin, But we'll move on. Okay, we got you got. Warrior definitely would be one of my picks.

53:14 Else Now, number two would have to be something he did at the very beginning of his directorial career. Okay, a little movie that had Kurt Russell in it. Oh yeah, you may know. It's called Miracle. Two thousand and four. Oh yeah, you cannot go against this movie. It's it's such a great story with an amazing actor in it, and you know, it's just one of those things where it almost feels like you win when you watch the movie, because it shows you how pivotal that moment was in American history. Oh got and I think the way he directed Kurt Russell, which is of course an amazing actor, but I feel like the way that that he directed Kurt Russell. I feel like he embodied that role so much that you believed you were actually watching this on live TV. Windows unfolding because you believe this story so much that it actually transports you back to the eighties when this is happening.

54:16 One of the greatest sports movies of all time, maybe the greatest hockey movie of all time. I can see that. You gotta be in the conversation, right, You're right, yes, sir. Did you know the arena in Vancouver where they shot the final game against the Soviets was the same arena used for another great USA versus USSR showdown? You know what I'm talking about? I do not not off the top of my head. Man, are we hold on? Are we talking Rocky? Right now? We are talking about Balboa versus Draft nineteen. That is the exact same arena. Miracle and Rocky for Sharon, Sharon, A little DNA there for you. I thought you, I thought you gave.

54:57 That is absolutely brilliant. Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah, I'm really hoping he did this on purpose. Now he had to, I'll tell you. Okay, so your your two picks in and we are two for two. Because that's that's the two that I would give. I'm curious. So your third suggestion someone looking for a Gavin O'Connor film, What else you got? Now? I got one. I don't know if you've seen it. Yeah, let's hear it, all right. So in twenty twenty he does. He reunites with Ben Affleck movie called The Way Back. Have you seen this one? I have not seen this one. This is it's the heartbreaking thing here is that COVID killed it right. This is it was coming out right when everyone had to mask up. The world shut down, and it just it had no chance. So you know, went straight to streaming and a lot of people just missed it, you know, but uh, I gotta be honest.

55:57 It is basketball drama done right. Ben Affleck, his character Jack, He he like he had it all before, losing everything to alcoholism. But he finds his redemption when he gets he you know, basically, he grows up. He's struggling with alcoholism, and he gets a chance to coach at his old high school and you know, the ragtag team. You know, he's gonna teach him how to be great and then they're gonna, you know, go and win the championship basically. But you know, the thing is this, this ended up becoming really personal for Ben because he was going through the same struggles with alcohol that his character was. I mean, they are, Garrett, They're in pre production and he falls off the wagon. Gavin O'Connor gets a phone call from Ben's ex, Jennifer Garner and says, listen, he's just he just he just checked into rehab. You got to put the movie on hold, and it's important to him, and Gavin's like, I don't know if the studio is good with this. I don't know if we can do this, and She's like, Gavin, one of the only things he took to rehab was a basketball. You gotta give him some time. And Garrett, he starts shooting the movie the same day he leaves rehab. So it's a really personal film for him. And it's a great film. Honestly, you know, especially whether you know the backstory or not, it's I think it's a really good movie. I'd recommend it to anybody.

57:21 I absolutely love that answer. And honestly, Ben Affleck is one of those dudes that I'm like pulling for so hard in Hollywood. He is just one of those dudes. He's like, it's such a creative mind, a great director. Any character role you put him in just absolutely kills it every time. And you know, I know he had his like fallout with Warner Brothers and everything like that because of you know, the same situation we're just talking about. Now. One thing I am excited. I'll just toss this in here real quick is James running the DC universe bringing Ben Affleck back to write a film. And he's actually signed on to do a film. They haven't announced exactly what he signed on to be writing for, but ben Affleck will be playing a part like in writing and creating some of the new DC material, which I know he's absolutely loved the idea of a Batman and death Stroke fight Steam and.

58:29 Yeah, yeah, he was gonna write. He was gonna write and direct that, right. Yeah, Listen, I love the guns involving him. I know we're not gonna seem as Batman, but man, if he writes something and then we could get him to direct something because he's a hell of a director. We have never covered him, We've never covered him on a film by but I think we need to at some point. He's got a couple of underrated movies. You're you're correct. I mean even from his super early work with like Kevin Smith or Dazelny Confused or whatever it may be. It's it's always his character either touches you in a way where you're like, I love this guy all right, he's doing the right thing, or he's playing obanion and you're like, oh gosh, I can't stand this guy.

59:15 Well, I'll tell you what I know. We love him in The Accountant uh currently streaming on max if you if you want to check it out for your a rewatcher, a first time watch. Also, Oh and is that where you watched? Is that what you call it? Yes, sir, okay, I gotta think that you what you uh, you're you're gonna you're gonna recommend this one of the people, right, Oh. And I could not recommend it any higher. Absolutely. Yeah. Well, while it may not paint an entirely accurate or authentic picture of the challenges of living with autism, it does deliver on the action, the tension, the powerhouse performances of a very seasoned cast from Kendrick to Lithgal. As far as I'm concerned, I got I gotta shout this out.

1:00:00 The four K Blu ray is available and recommended. I might add it's you know, I know it's on my shelf, but just a fantastic film, man really is Listeners, what do you think of the Accountant? Have you seen it? Are you heading to the theater this weekend? To see the long awaited sequel? You can let us know on social media. You'll find us on Facebook, Instagram, and x You can check out a film by podcast dot com for all of our episodes streaming free on the platform of your choice. You can write to us at a film by Podcast at gmail dot com with your questions, comments and concerns. We may just read the response on the show and send you some of our film by Swag Garrett. I want to thank you man. I think you did a great job today and I'm confident our listeners will feel the same way.

1:00:48 Thank you. I appreciate that, Jeff, and I'm glad to be here. I'm glad you guys had me on. So yeah, I look forward to it again sometime. Bro. Yeah. Well, hey, I gotta say, there's always room in the studio for the mic if you like to join us. So we're gonna have to make that happen, I think. Meanwhile, though we're a couple of days away, what you said about catching a sneak preview of the accountant too, I. Would be one hundred and ten percent on board with this, sir. Yes, all right. Well, as David Burns likes to say, I'll buy the tickets if you buy the popcorn. So to all of you listening out there, following us on social media, subscribing to our Patreon, we thank you.

1:01:28 I cannot see, but I know you will. But you can't loud on me with all these books at yourself. I'm not trying to follow you to the end of the world. I'm just trying to leave something fine.