The Accountant centers on its titular character, Christian Wolff (Ben
Affleck), an autistic, obsessive compulsive super-genius who works as a freelance
forensic accountant for the world’s most dangerous criminal organizations under
the cover of a modest, small-town CPA office.
He thrives in such a perilous career and environment, for not only is he a mathematical
savant, but also because he can personally take care of himself, as he, alongside his brother, grew up being trained
extensively by his military-man father to be highly erudite in combat. New clients are brokered for him by “the
Voice”, an anonymous, robotic female voice from a restricted cellphone number.
In his latest assignment, Wolff
has to audit state-of-the-art company Living Robotics when suspicious
discrepancies in its books are discovered by its in-house accountant, Dana
Cummings (Anna Kendrick). As he speedily
gets closer to the truth, assassins led by an enigmatic hitman (Jon Bernthal) are
employed to kill everyone involved in the case, including Christian and Dana.
Meanwhile, the director of the
Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Ray King
(J.K. Simmons), and his “protégé”, data analyst Marybeth Medina (Cynthia
Addai-Robinson), are closing in on Wolff’s real identity.
I understand why some may have a
problem with The Accountant (hence, the mixed reviews it received from critics). It really has a very
dense story, and some may find its various plotlines not meshing well
seamlessly. The storytelling does feel
like a mess sometimes.
However, personally, for all its
flaws, I think The Accountant is an
awesome movie. It has a fresh premise for
an action thriller; the plot is generally enjoyable; and, though the plot
twists are predictably oriented, it really worked for me.
Lastly, Christian Wolff has a
pretty Batmanly mystique and charisma in his characterization (which only sounds
right, since Affleck is the current Batman after all). He’s easily one of Affleck’s best roles. He’s probably the most fascinating action hero
since John Wick, and the character deserves a franchise of his own.
Besides, with how much “set-uppy” this movie is to a fault, and it getting a solid return on investment from its budget (about $150 million from $44 million), a resulting franchise only makes sense.
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