Director: Gavin O'Connor
Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@Cleric20)
Read the newspaper version of this review: The Hemel Gazette
“Sooner or later, different scares people.”
My name is Christian Wolff I’m good with numbers, I have an affinity with them, people though… Not so much. I work in finance as an accountant for some of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations, I kind of make their book-keeping look like it might be OK but there’s this Treasury guy who is trying to shut me down. So it looks like I’m going to have to use my other set of skills – those as a ruthless and unstoppable killer – in order to make things turn out alright.
Wolff (Ben Affleck) is an interesting character, part Raymond Babbitt - Rain Man, part Jason Bourne - Assassin. The plot however is mixed bag of million-dollar accounting discrepancy investigation, potboiler dodgy deeds thriller and surface level study into Asperger's Syndrome (used as a kind of super power which feels odd). Director Gavin ‘Warrior’ O’Connor injects some good action scenes whenever the financial stuff gets a bit dull and there is a decent body count for those looking for an unusual action thriller.
the overdue tax penalties were harsh
The Accountant isn’t however, a film you’ll be able to take very seriously, everything from the flashbacks of how Wolff’s father (Robert ‘House of Cards’ C Treveiler) had him trained in a kind of Batman-lite sort of assassination school – in case he got picked on for his condition, through to his motivation for helping young struggling junior accountant Dana Cummings (Anna ‘Pitch Perfect’ Kendrick) doesn’t really click.
Having said that the production values are high and Affleck brings his hunky charisma to this killing by numbers party. The list of potential bad guys is topped by Lamar Black (the awesome John Lithgow) who may be behind the missing millions but things are complicated as Wolff himself is being investigated by Ray King (J.K. Simmons) and his coerced minion operative Marybeth Medina (Cynthia Addai-Robinson).
bad guys a go go
As the danger amps up alongside the number of people who Wolff has to shoot, the book-keeping is left on the shelf and the film goes all out for climactic thrills. This makes the many scenes of painstaking paperwork seem more like plot gimmicks used to dress up a by the numbers action effort.
If you’ve a hankering for some big screen accounting mixed with some effective brutal action kill streaks, make an appointment with The Accountant. It’s a decent effort but just don’t expect it all to add up to much.
pulse pounding figurework
Out of a potential 5 you have to go with a Darkmatters:
ööö
(3 - Calculated action thrills that work)...
Awesomeness ööö – Slick and likeable scenes aplenty
Laughs öö – Occasional mirth
Horror öö – Moments of violence but not too grim
Spiritual Enlightenment ööö - Life is like a box of chocolates
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