The Accountant: Movie Review

There are definitely some interesting things about Gavin O’Connor’s “The Accountant”. What sets it apart from most action thrillers is that the title character is a mathematics savant who isn’t the strong silent type because he chooses to be.   He actually reminds me quite of bit of Léon: The Professional, played by Jean Reno in the 1994 Luc Besson film.  Sure the characters had different issues but they both had a simplicity to them while at the same time being very complex.  There is a sweetness to both characters, even though they are both highly trained killers.

Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) grew up moving around due to his father being in the military. His only friend was his brother, due to his inability to relate to other people.  Because Christian’s mother could not handle her son, she left the family, leaving his father to raise the two boys.  Instead of sending Christian to a place where he could learn to live a normal life, the father decided he would train his sons to defend themselves. This would teach Christian not to let people take advantage of him.

Now Christian is a CPA, working out of a small-town office in a strip shopping center. That however is his front.  He actually makes a living as a forensic accountant for criminal organizations around the world.   U.S. Treasury agent Ray King (J.K. Simmons) has been trying to learn the identity of the individual known only as “The Accountant” in the criminal underworld. Unfortunately for him, Christian knows how to cover his tracks.  King enlists the help of Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) to help discover who this man is before he retires from the Treasury.

At the same time, Christian decides to take an accounting job with a legitimate client. Hired by Lamar Black (John Lithgow), Christian is tasked to locate the state-of-the-art robotics company’s financial discrepancies brought to light by Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick).  However, when Christian figures out where the money went, a hired assassin named Brax (Jon Bernthal) and his team show up and begin taking out anyone who had knowledge of this.  This includes Christian and Dana.

Because Christian actually likes Dana, he decides to help her instead of packing up and moving on and this is when the action really begins to pick up.  “The Accountant” works as a solid action-thriller in which Affleck seems like he might have been miscast, but actually winds up pulling it off. It also works as a good set-up for a potential franchise.  My fear is although we need to suspend disbelief that Christian is actually capable of everything he does in this film, a sequel would most likely push the boundaries and give us something monumentally idiotic.

“The Accountant” does have a final act twist that I saw coming very early on and I am sure many of you will figure that one out as well.  Despite that, O’Connor has delivered a very solid flick based on a screenplay from Bill Dubeque(“The Judge”). If you are looking to be entertained, then “The Accountant” adds up to a good movie pick.

By: Marc Ferman