**Spoilers**
Mentally handicapped people are often treated horribly throughout life. The Accountant, written by Bill Dubuque explores the rough life of a mentally ill man. Dubuque proves not only that Christian (Ben Affleck) is a genius and a warrior, but also he stands up for what he believes. The Accountant is a great looking crime drama with fantastic acting that explores the intellectual depths of a mentally ill man. On the other hand, the script is full of exposition and scenes which at times causes confusion in the plot.
Christian Wolf is an autistic account who works at ZZZ Accounting in Plainfield, IL. As a younger boy, Christian struggled an extremely harsh life. He was taken to live at Harbor Neuroscience Institute, a place to help autistic children. However, his father declined Christian’s opportunity to live there because he would rather have Christian face the hardships in the world. During Christian’s short time at Harbor Neuroscience, he creates a fantastic bond with the institute director’s mute autistic daughter Justine. At ZZZ Accounting, he is contacted on his phone by a mysterious figure known as the, “The Voice”. “The Voice” gives him instructions to track financial deceptions for criminal organizations. Ever since, “The Voice” first contacts Christian, he has gotten into much trouble with criminal organizations.
On the other hand, Raymond King, played by J.K. Simmons, peruses to catch “The Accountant”. He blackmails Marybeth Medina to help him find the identity and catch “The Accountant”. Medina has a criminal past, which she does not want exposed to the real world. If she does not catch the “Accountant,” Raymond King will put her in jail. Christian Wolf, during the middle of the film, teams up with Dana Cummings, played by Anna Kendrick, to solve finical discrepancies within the Living Robotics Company. Christian, of course, solves this within one night.
He finds that $61 million dollars has been embezzled from Living Robotics Company. An anonymous person, who is later revealed the CEO of Living Robotics Company, Lamar Blackburn who has targeted both Christian and Dana. When running from assassins, they both develop a fantastic relationship which proves to be a highlight of the film. Christian eventually approaches Lamar Blackburn, he is left only to find out that his brother named Braxton is protecting Lamar. He does not realize this at first, but while in a fist fight, they eventually realized each other. Christian picks up his gun and shots Lamar. Braxton does not ever flinch…
Before viewing the film, I had seen the trailer for The Account which marketed the film as an intense action film. I cannot judge this film based on this because my expectations were set for a large budget in-your-face action film—instead, it is only a downsized crime drama with some action scenes. However, when the action occurs it is directed beautifully by Gavin O’Connor. Another huge positive in The Accountant is a mishmash of drama, dark comedy and action. On the other hand, this leads into a main flaw with the film. The tone and the plot are all over the place. It becomes unsettling and odd at certain points in the film. To demonstrate, during an exposition scene, Christian is in jail with another unessential character. This scene is thrown is placed awkwardly, which ruins the moment before that scene. The scene essentially changes the tone of the film completely. It is only until later until the scene is fully explained.
After viewing The Accountant, many thoughts crossed my mind. The Accountant is not a film that the viewer can turn their brain off for the runtime of film. It requires the viewer to think. Sometimes films that make are complex and require thinking turn out as top notch films. Two of Christopher Nolan’s masterpieces, Inception and The Dark Knight have complex plots and require much thinking. However, they also have an entertaining quality to them. On the contrast, The Accountant requires a view to think for all of the wrong reasons. The script is full of problems which causes confusion while viewing.
The Accountant strives not only as a thriller, but also a character study. Ben Affleck is fabulous as Christian Wolf. Is this his best performance? Maybe, I also think his performance in Good Will Hunting is extremely powerful, even though his is only a minor character. Christian is shown as a person who is treated horribly throughout life. His mother gives up on him early as a young child. She walks out on him and leaves her husband to deal with him since he is a handful. Christian’s father really motivates him. He gives him some military inspired training to prepare him for the challenges of real world. When you see Christian as an adult, you understand his objectives and motives. The Accountant is nowhere near flawless. It has many narrative problems which makes it at times hard to follow. However, The Accountant has fantastic performances and proves to be extremely entertaining.
B –
“Solid Thriller with Great Performances”