The Accountant
Dir. Gavin O'Connor
Watch Trailer
On paper, the ensemble brought together for The Accountant sounds amazing: Ben Affleck in his first post-Batman role, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, Jon Bernthal, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor, and directed by Warrior and Miracle's Gavin O'Connor.
On paper, the story for The Accountant sounds like a complete unmitigated disaster-in-waiting. Christian Wolff (Affleck) is a mathematics savant on the autism spectrum who makes his living as a freelance accountant for dangerous criminals. As a Treasury agent (J.K. Simmons) is hot on his trail, Wolff takes on a state-of-the-arts robotic company, run by Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow), as a legitimate client, but uncovers a discrepancy that involves millions of dollars. Using his genius, as well as military-level defense skills his father taught him (including martial arts and shooting targets a mile away), Wolff uncovers the truth while on the run and the bodies starting piling high.
I have no idea how O'Connor got that pedigree of talent for such a b-grade, somewhat exploitative action flick, but I found The Accountant to be a singularly entertaining, bizarre Bourne-meets-Rain Man shoot-em-up that despite a wonky (and possibly offensive) depiction of autism and a labyrinthine plot that makes little sense, I had a lot of fun with.
