In theaters this weekend: A 1950s romantic drama and ‘The Accountant 2’
One is an action movie starring Ben Affleck; the other is a lush 1950s romantic drama. Together, they had our critic thinking about math and geometry. Take your pick or catch up on the spring’s hits this weekend in cinemas.
The Accountant 2
In theaters Friday
To the list of sequels no one was asking for, add this brutal tale of broken bones and brotherly love. The original explored the life of Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), a person with autism who’d found his unlikely calling as a money-laundering expert with criminal organizations. Mayhem ensued, especially when the film brought Christian, who was accomplished at martial arts, together with his estranged, assassin-for-hire brother Brax (Jon Bernthal).
The new film picks up eight years later, apparently because director Gavin O’Connor has belatedly realized how much comedy he can make of that estrangement. The complicated, largely nonsensical plot involves a Salvadoran family caught in the margins of a society that profits from the desperation of immigrants without legal status. But that’s not a lot of fun, even when heads are being bashed, so Christian speed-dates, and Brax tries to adopt a dog, and they team up for a night of line-dancing at a country bar. The title, as rendered on-screen, is actually The Accountant2 — and if this one does as well at the box office as its predecessor, there’s presumably a cubed Accountant in our future.
On Swift Horses
In theaters Friday
It’s Christmas eve in the early 1950s, and Muriel (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is making love to Lee (Will Poulter) a soldier on leave from Korea, when Lee’s handsome brother Julius (Jacob Elordi) shows up at her family home. “The two people I love most,” says Lee, who wants them all to live together in suburban San Diego. There’s a vibe there that Muriel can’t put her finger on; she marries Lee and believes Julius when he says he’ll join them as Lee pursues the American dream. Life doesn’t quite work out that way in this sumptuously filmed adaptation of Shannon Pufahl’s 2019 novel. It’s not quite a love-triangle — more a love-pentagon maybe, though the geometry of queer desire in the ’50s was rarely that neat. Trusting, reliable Lee plays it straight in every conceivable sense, while both Julius and Muriel are gamblers at heart – he with cards, she with horses, and both with love.
That brings different kinds of danger to all their lives when a gay Vegas card sharp of boundless ambition (Diego Calva), and a woman living openly as a lesbian (Sasha Calle), open up the two people Lee loves most to other possibilities. Filmmaker Daniel Minahan, whose small-screen work includes episodes of Six Feet Under and Fellow Travelers, makes the most of a wider canvas, depicting a time when American space and abundance seemed limitless, but emotions were held close.
Auburn fires coach Hugh Freeze following 12th loss in his last 15 SEC games
The 56-year-old Freeze failed to fix Auburn’s offensive issues in three years on the Plains, scoring 24 or fewer points in 17 of his 22 league games. He also ended up on the wrong end of too many close matchups, including twice this season thanks partly to questionable calls.
In a ‘disheartening’ era, the nation’s former top mining regulator speaks out
Joe Pizarchik, who led the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement from 2009 to 2017, says Alabama’s move in the wake of a fatal 2024 home explosion increases risks to residents living atop “gassy” coal mines.
‘It’s like feeling the arms of your creator just wrapped around you’: a visit to a special healing Shabbat
Members of Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham gathered recently for their traditional Friday Shabbat service. But this particular service was different, as could be seen by all the people dressed in their finest pink.
Space Command is coming to Huntsville. What might that mean for first-time homebuyers
While Huntsville has been a more affordable market than other growing cities, what’s it been like for those looking for their first home?
Colorado says relocation of Space Command to Alabama is ‘punishment’ for mail-in voting
The litigation announced by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser asks a federal judge to block the move as unconstitutional.
Breaking down Alabama’s CHOOSE Act
It’s been a year since Alabama legislators passed the CHOOSE Act allowing families to apply for state funds to use towards homeschool expenses and tuition for participating private schools. The Alabama Daily News’ education reporter Trisha Powell Crain has been diving into how the funds are being used. WBHM’s Andrew Gelderman sat down with her to talk about what we’re seeing so far.
