The Accountant

You don’t see many characters like Ben Affleck’s Christian Wolff in The Accountant. He’s autistic, socially awkward, brilliant with numbers, a merciless killer, trained in martial arts and has a moral code different from most. There’s nothing “normal” nor conventional about him, and that’s what makes him – and the movie – so fun to watch.

Ostensibly, Wolff is a mild-mannered, glasses and pocket protector-wearing nerd. He’s a lowly strip mall accountant 20 miles outside of Chicago. But there’s more. Treasury Department Director Ray King (J.K. Simmons) blackmails underling Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) into investigating, and she discovering money laundering. Cooking the books for criminals. Secret identities. A private arsenal of weapons. Wolff is all business like Clark Kent in the office, Superman in the streets.

While Medina tries to find Wolff, he gets a new assignment helping a robotics company identify a hole in its accounting books. Of all the things we see Wolff do, this is where he seems most comfortable. It’s a room full of journals, and he whispers the numbers to himself and scribbles on the board. The montage here, coupled with the musical score by Mark Isham, successfully makes forensic accounting not only interesting, but fascinating.

There’s plenty going on as far as plot. Although it’s a flaw to have supporting characters played by well-known actors (including Jon Bernthal of The Walking Dead and Jeffrey Tambor of Transparent) disappear for extended periods of time, the focus appropriately remains on Wolff. This is smart. Director Gavin O’Connor (Warrior) and screenwriter Bill Dubuque (The Judge) know Wolff is unique, and seek to explore him in as many ways as possible, which includes flashbacks to Wolff’s difficult upbringing.

It’s easy to knock Affleck’s limited acting skills, but lately he’s smartly chosen roles he can handle well (Argo), and he’s done the same here. Affleck did ample research on autism and spent time with autistic people, and it shows in his performance. It’s unfair to say the blank expression on Wolff’s face and monotone voice are part of yet another bland Affleck performance; let’s give him credit for doing the research and playing a convincing and intriguing character effectively.

The Accountant is a solid action drama that has some excess at 128 minutes, but also has gritty action, surprises and a satisfying conclusion. You’ll find other movies that are sort of like it, but no other character is quite like Christian Wolff.

THE ACCOUNTANT (3) Directed by Gavin O’Connor • Starring Ben Affleck, Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons • Rated R • 128 min. • At Century Cinemas Del Mote, Century Marina, Maya Cinemas, Northridge Cinemas, Cannery Row XD.