Review of The Accountant (2016) by Krisstolliday14 — 13 Nov 2016

Ben Affleck is becoming one of Hollywood's hottest sells. The movies he directs are strong and his recent performances are turning heads, he was the best thing about Batman V Superman after months of scepticism, and with The Accountant he is proving to be able to add depth to a titular action hero.

Here he plays the Accountant, an autistic man having grown up learning very violent ways to defend himself from his militaristic father. Whilst un-cooking the books for deadly clientele he uses these skills to good measure until some rather lethal people start to hunt him down.

The Accountant starts slow, showing a good 50 minutes of maths and numbers before any plot really kicks in but it is when it does that it really takes hold. This accountant is violent, nasty and emotionless and he makes for a rather interesting protagonist.

It isn't the plot that keeps this going it is the backstory of the character. Whilst learning of his past the film hits its peak and when it returns to the main narrative it does derail slightly. This does make it rather messy as there is a lot going on with many expositional accountancy speeches that are confusing as anything, but don't see this for the numbers see it for the action set pieces and Affleck's performance.

Other performers aren't given the room like Affleck but Jon Bernthal does also bring weight to his character. Kendrick gets sidelined as the story unfolds and Simmons has played characters like this in his sleep, that's not to say he isn't good here mind.

Others are given smaller roles but really it is Affleck's accountant that you are here to watch. Forget about the films many flaws, contrivances and tangled narrative and go switch off for two hours and enjoy a good solid action thriller.

It is a lot more fun then it is given credit for.