Quick take on The Accountant

Anna Kendrick and Ben Affleck star in The Accountant

OK, so it didn't get the greatest reviews, and it's a Hollywood action thriller (not my thing), but I couldn't resist the topic, so I went to see The Accountant this weekend - and it was fun. Too violent, yes, with a plot full of holes, but entertaining and in some ways really well done. (BTW, if you're still wondering why this art reviewer couldn't resist the film's topic, see my profile.)

Ben Affleck stars as a sociopathic killing machine with autism, who also happens to be a CPA, and who - we learn gradually - operates according to his own moral code (just like all Hollywood sociopathic killing machines). But how often do you get to see a leading man with autism? (Pretty often, now that I think of it, considering Rain Man, A Beautiful Mind, Good Will Hunting, The Imitation Game ... .)

Anyway, I laughed at all the accounting jokes (reasonably accurately presented), felt compassion for the kids with autism (not too unlike my 6-year-old nephew), and grimaced from behind my fingers at all the shootings. Affleck does a heck of a job realistically presenting the low-affect of the man on the spectrum, a formidable challenge for any actor (i.e. to un-act), and Anna Kendrick is perfectly cast as the lovable geek who ultimately inspires a lot of the accountant's mayhem. Other stars include Jeffrey Tambor, John Lithgow, and J.K. Simmons.

The Accountant asks the question "Do you like puzzles?" and gives you two of them - first, a goodly number of plot twists purposely placed, and then the aforementioned holes that you can spend a few hours trying to fill in. Highly recommended to anyone in the profession, if only for the Crazy Eddie Antar reference. Or to folks who get off on brutal gunfights.

Add note: The Accountant's final scene is played over a song written and performed by local music hero Sean Rowe, and it's going to make him famous. You can check it out here.

Affleck's accountant files a tax return, and makes an emotional connection.

Paul Mauren at Albany Center Gallery

The local art mafia came out in force last Friday night for Paul Mauren's exhibition Where Things Go at Albany Center Gallery, and with good reason. Yes, many of the seeming hundreds of guests were this longtime College of Saint Rose professor's colleagues, counterparts, current and former students, friends and fans, but the show alone is an event worthy of major excitement.

Paul Mauren - Speak to Me 2016, assembled mixed materials

Mauren, a stalwart of the regional arts scene (and beyond) for several decades, has operated under the radar for the most part. Still, he has built up a presence through steady inclusion in important shows - going back to the 1979 Mohawk Hudson Regional, a 1981 solo at Emma Willard's Dietel Gallery, and the seminal Water Works exhibition, held in 1982 in an Albany public bath house that eventually met the wrecker's ball.

More recently, Mauren has been featured prominently in numerous Regionals, in the striking An Armory Show at Sage's Opalka Gallery, and in countless annual and biennial Saint Rose faculty shows. Almost as consistently, though, Mauren has shown at ACG.

A few of those highlights:

• Mauren was chosen for two Mohawk Hudson Regional Invitationals at ACG - the first in 1994, when Les Urbach still ran the show there, the last in 2005, with Sarah Martinez at the helm
• In 2007, Mauren was included in the first show at ACG's current space - titled Then and Now, it featured a who's who of local artists, from David Austin to Deborah Zlotsky
• And now this, his first solo exhibition in nearly 35 years, which fits the space like a glove

It is truly fitting that such an artist would provide bookends to the 10-year Columbia Street run of this beloved institution, and help send it on its way to its next space, just two blocks away, in the freshly renovated Arcade Building, where it is slated to reopen in January.

Where Things Go runs through Nov. 4 (and there will be an artist talk at the gallery on that last evening during 1st Friday). Full disclosure - it was my idea to invite Mauren to do this show, simply because I wanted to see more of his intriguing, wall-hung sculpture. And I am not disappointed. But don't take my word for it - just go and be dazzled.

Paul Mauren works on the installation of Where Things Go at Albany Center Gallery