Interesting movie.
Ben Affleck plays a CPA/assassin who is autistic. He's hired by the worst people to "uncook" their books to look for stuff that's been hidden, and the movie flashes back to events in his life that made him the way he is.
He's not an "assassin" by trade, but his dad (US Army) had him and his brother trained by various "specialists" as they moved from base to base during their childhood. When someone violates his "moral code," he opens a can of "whup ass" on them. As he deals with very unsavory characters, it makes some sense as he needs to be able to protect himself and "disappear" when needed.
I'm not endorsing how they showed the dad "preparing" his autistic kid to face adult life, but in principle, the idea was sound. He wanted his kid to test his limits, push the boundaries and be stronger for it.
In the movie, Affleck's character has a nightly ritual. He exposes himself to heavy metal and flashing strobe lights while rolling a wooden rod up and down his shin bone (pain infliction). After he's done, he takes a pill and goes to bed. Seems very masochistic, but it's clear he has the daily ritual in which he overloads his visual, auditory and tactile senses so that he can handle "real life" the next day.
Movie was real bad ass to watch (rooting for Affleck), but at the same time, seeing how the father chose to approach having an autistic son left me with mixed feelings. Good intentions but very questionable application.
Anyone else seen the movie?
15 Feb 2017, 8:06 am
