Review of The Accountant (2016) by Neecompoop — 04 Dec 2018

I love a good movie, especially one with a good story. I am not relegated to a particular genre, but I tend to lean more towards action/suspense. Nothing better than being sucked into a different world and keeping you wondering, what is going to happen next. The movie; The Accountant, does not disappoint! Written by Bill Dobuque, directed by Gavin O’Connor and starring Ben Affleck as Christian Wolf, Anna Kenndrick as Dana Cummings, Jk Simmons as Raymond King, Jon Bernthal as Braxton, Cynthia Addai-R.obinson as Marybeth Medina, Jeffrey Tambor as Francis, and John Lithgow as Lamar Blackburn. I personally enjoyed the story line of The Accountant, it takes you on a journey of two young boys raised by a single military father who’s mother leaves when the father refuses help for their autistic son, simply stating “He doesn’t need a sensory environment safe place, he needs to learn to adapt and function as the real world is not sensory environmentally safe”, Christians Father. Christian and Braxton grow up with a variety of special training, which is told in a series of strategically placed flash backs woven into the story line to bring it all together. Leading two completely different lives Christian Wolf (Ben Affleck) becomes a forensic accountant usually hired to find financial deceptions and embezzlement for criminal organizations. While Braxton (Jon Bernthal) becomes a gun for hire.

I was somewhat skeptical when the trailers were first released about "The Accountant", but it did not disappoint. There is sufficient character development and the story has a good amount of twists and turns. There are several intersecting story lines in this film and one branch of that is the federal department tracking The Accountant. There is ample amount of action, both gun firing and hand to hand combat. The headshots are brutal, the body count is high. Every question raised in this movie was answered by its conclusion. It was so entertaining and creative. the movie ended well leaving room for a much needed sequel. But it is not your typical action like John wick or The Equalizer. The movie is engaging and entertaining. The suspense and tension was maintained throughout. The slow moving scenes are carefully crafted with the right sound, camera, and flash backs designed to help us feel how deliberate both Christian’s need for routine and isolation are. Director O'Connor succeeded in normalizing autism and showing that behavioral conditions should not get in the way of anyone's life. For those of you that are not a big fan of Ben Affleck as an actor, I can say that, that does not take away from the story at all, in fact the movie cast him perfectly with his wooden, emotionless, intellectual yet tough look. Ben nailed the behavior and mannerisms of someone with high-functioning autism. The turning point for the movie; Christian took on an accounting job for Living Robotics, when the accountant Dana Cummings (Anna Kendrick) finds an embezzlement of 61 million-.

Dollars within the company, Christian is hired to audit the company by the owner Lamar Blackburn (John Lithgow) and his sister Rita Blackburn (Jean Smart). During the night, Chilton the financial director of Living Robotics is murdered as if he had committed suicide and Lamar finishes the audit affecting Christian since he has not completed his job to his satisfaction. Rattled by this, Christian heads out to a farm where he is goes to shoot his guns. In the middle of a flash back of his childhood, two guns for hire show up and take the older farm couple hostage. In the process of the farmer’s wife (gun to her head) is trying to call Christian back to the house, bad guy one’s head explodes causing bad guy two to take the couple around back and try to escape in the old farm truck. Christian shoots the radiator and proceeds to engage bad guy two in a hand to knife combat. Right before Christian kills bad guy number two, he learns that more men where hired to go after the other accountant, Dana Cummings (Anna Kenndrick). Christian’s moral code has been broken so he continues to search and take out the people involved.

The Accountant proceeds to add on more intrigue as the movie progresses. Though relatively predictable there are a few twist and surprises right up to the end. I really enjoyed how the last scene ties back into the beginning of the movie. It is a movie that will leave you with just enough questions to make you want to go back and watch it again.